BaconLOG

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and Mental Illness

2011-10-24T09:34:00.000-07:00

I printed out copies of the articles posted on the USCF website concerning the 82nd FIDE Congress and read every word. Having just finished reading the book, A First-Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness by S. Nassir Ghaemi, I particularly liked the article by Michael Khodarkovsky, According to Kirsan: A Billion Clever People. (http://main.uschess.org/content/view/11442/643) He writes, "When Mr.Ilyumzhinov started to talk about pending legal issues many were taken by surprise that he dedicated a great deal of time to demonize Garry Kasparov, “who wants to bankrupt FIDE” and glorifying Anatoly Karpov, his opponent at the 2010 FIDE Presidential election, “who joined the newly formed political party by Vladimir Putin in Russia” (Putin, Prime-Minister of Russia plans to return to his former position as President of Russia in 2012)."
It was answered by, "The audience was mute until Tomasz Sielicki, President of the Polish Chess Federation and Deputy President of the European Chess Federation, asked for the microphone and said: ”We all came here to discuss chess issues and I don’t understand why should we listen a political speech for more than an hour, which has nothing to do with the agenda.”
Why, indeed.
I read looking for information on Senior chess and found something by Sophia Rohde in her post of October 19, Sophia Rohde on the 82nd FIDE Congress. (http://main.uschess.org/content/view/11438/643)She wrote, " Age categories for the senior World Championship of 60 and 70 was agreed on." I have absolutely no idea what that means.
Later, in the post USCF President Ruth Haring Wraps Up 82nd Fide Congress, (http://main.uschess.org/content/view/11443/643)I found this: "The age categories for the World Senior will be changed to age 50 and 65 for both Men and Women."
It is more than a little obvious that what happened at the FIDE Congress in regard to Senior chess needs clarification.
Sophia also had this to say concerning the USCF practice of 'drop-ins'; those that 'drop-in' in the middle of a tournament playing several games at a much faster time control than those players in the 'main' tournament: "Things heated up considerably when discussing tournaments with two schedules merging to become one. Normal in many parts of the US, this is quite foreign in other parts of the world. Commission members quoted the FIDE Handbook paragraph 1.11 about requirements for title norms; “The tournament system must be a fair one. Tournaments where the composition is changed (without FIDE approval) during the tournament or those where players have different conditions in terms of rounds and pairing are not valid.”
"July 2013 will be a crucial date, that’s when FIDE expects every federation to follow the same FIDE Laws of Chess."
It is good to read that the reprehensible USCF practice of allowing many different tournaments to 'merge' into one section near the end of a tournament is "...quite foreign in other parts of the world."
Rather than leading the chess world in 'drop-ins' and half-point byes, USCF should consider leading the world by pulling out of the crooked, gansta run FIDE, led by a petty tyrant nut case.

The Best Campaign Song of All Time!

2011-10-22T08:11:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Xe_59zFA0Ec

Thanks, Mr G!

Please do not take this as an endorsement of this candidate. When it comes to politicians I reflect back to the time I heard a British member of Parliment interviewed on the MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour say, "You Americans are so naive. Democrat-Republican; left shoe-right shoe."
I will admit, though, that I have never understood anyone who votes not voting for the candidate from his home state, regardless of party affiliation. Every POTUS has brought improvement to his state. Since the Great state of Georgia is my home state, I realize that Herman Cain as POTUS would be beneficial to Georgia.
This is an UNofficial campaign song. That could be why it is one of the best of all time. Many candidates have co-opted songs for their own nefarious purposes. The most famous being the time the Reagan campaign used "Born in the U.S.A.", a song criticizing the treatment of Vietnam War veterans, as a campaign song, without permission, until Springsteen, a lifelong Democrat, insisted that they stop. It was obvious no one in the Reagan campaign listened to anything other than the title, which, come to think of it, is a fine metaphor for the whole Reagan administration. One of the first things the Reagan administration did was to cut benefits to veterans. One never hears about such things in relation to the 'Gypper', for some reason.

Do Liberals Play Chess?

2011-10-20T08:33:00.001-07:00

http://www.shorenewstoday.com/snt/news/index.php/downbeach-/longport-margate-ventnor-opinion/17423-conservatives-play-chess-while-liberals-play-checkers.html

Kenneth Timmerman the President of the Foundation for Democracy in Iran has written a piece titled, Iranian regime plays chess, we play checkers. (http://dailycaller.com/2011/10/19/iranian-regime-plays-chess-we-play-checkers/)
It would appear that the thing to do today is to disparage another group by saying they play an inferior game. I expect to soon read something like, "He played chess like a human, while I played the game like a computer!"

Scrabble player demands strip-search at World Championships!

2011-10-17T08:42:00.000-07:00

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2050089/Scrabble-player-demands-strip-search-opponent-letter-G-goes-missing-world-championships.html#ixzz1b35fRO2A

"I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!"

2011-10-16T09:02:00.000-07:00

The young people are are in the streets protesting. The network minions are telling We The People that they do not know exactly what they are protesting, but one young lady on the tube summed it up best when she said she was there because of "Human need," and to end "Corporate greed." Good luck with that!

You don’t know me but I’m your brother
I was raised here in this living hell
You don’t know my kind in your world
Fairly soon the time will tell
You, telling me the things you’re gonna do for me
I ain’t blind and I don’t like what I think I see Takin’ it to the streets
Takin’ It To The Streets
by Michael McDonald

In the South we call them the 'upper crust' and the one thing they do not like is rebellion from the rable. I just hope we the people don't get fooled again.

We'll be fighting in the streets
With our children at our feet
And the morals that they worship will be gone
And the men who spurred us on
Sit in judgment of all wrong
They decide and the shotgun sings the song
Won't Get Fooled Again by The Who

The song ends,
Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss

When young one thinks he, or we, and change the world. As one grows older he learns that the machine is just too strong and will grind you down; pulverize into nothingness, especially if one shows any sign whatsoever of becoming a leader. JFK, RFK, MLK, Malcolm X, R.I.P.

The people in the streets are asking, "What about We the People?"

You poisoned my sweet water.
You cut down my green trees.
The food you fed my children
Was the cause of their disease.
My world is slowly fallin' down
And the air's not good to breathe.
And those of us who care enough,
We have to do something...

(Chorus)
Oh... oh What you gonna do about me?
Oh... oh What you gonna do about me?
Your newspapers,
They just put you on.
They never tell you
The whole story.
They just put your
Young ideas down.
I was wonderin' could this be the end
Of your pride and glory?

(Chorus)
I work in your factory.
I study in your schools.
I fill your penitentiaries.
And your military too!
And I feel the future trembling,
As the word is passed around.
"If you stand up for what you do believe,
Be prepared to be shot down."

(Chorus)
And I feel like a stranger
In the land where I was born
And I live like an outlaw.
And I'm always on the run...
And I'm always getting busted
And I got to take a stand...
I believe the revolution
Must be mighty close at hand...

(Chorus)
I smoke marijuana
But I can't get behind your wars.
And most of what I do believe
Is against most of your laws
I'm a fugitive from injustice
But I'm goin' to be free.
'Cause your rules and regulations
They don't do the thing for me

(Chorus)
And I feel like a stranger
In the land where I was born
And I live just like an outlaw.
And I'm always on the run.
And though you may be stronger now, my time will come around.
You keep adding to my numbers, and you shoot my people down.
Quicksilver Messenger Service - What About Me
Written By: Jesse Oris Farrow / From The Album: "What About Me"

What We the People are feeling can best be summed up by the soliloguy by the character Howard Beale, played by Peter Finch, in the 1976 movie 'Network'.
Howard Beale: I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It's a depression. Everybody's out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel's worth, banks are going bust, shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter. Punks are running wild in the street and there's nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and there's no end to it. We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat, and we sit watching our TV's while some local newscaster tells us that today we had fifteen homicides and sixty-three violent crimes, as if that's the way it's supposed to be. We know things are bad - worse than bad. They're crazy. It's like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don't go out anymore. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we are living in is getting smaller, and all we say is, 'Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials and I won't say anything. Just leave us alone.' Well, I'm not gonna leave you alone. I want you to get mad! I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to riot - I don't want you to write to your congressman because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. I don't know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the street. All I know is that first you've got to get mad. You've got to say, 'I'm a HUMAN BEING, God damn it! My life has VALUE!' So I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window. Open it, and stick your head out, and yell, 'I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!' I want you to get up right now, sit up, go to your windows, open them and stick your head out and yell - 'I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!' Things have got to change. But first, you've gotta get mad!... You've got to say, 'I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!' Then we'll figure out what to do about the depression and the inflation and the oil crisis. But first get up out of your chairs, open the window, stick your head out, and yell, and say it: "I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!"

KENTUCKIANA'S NEXT HOT MODEL

2011-10-15T13:24:00.000-07:00

More proof that GM Kevin Spraggett's blog is nonpareil in the blogosphere!
http://kevinspraggett.blogspot.com/2011/10/todays-winning-smile_14.html
Her name is Amanda Marie Manning was elected "KENTUCKIANA'S NEXT HOT MODEL 2009/10-2010/11." After you check her out at Kevin's blog, be sure to vote for the lady from LaGrange, KY, US at: http://www.bianvariani.com/castings/profile/10634
Who says I do not write good things about ol' Kentuck?

LaGrange by ZZ Top

Rumour spreadin' a-'round in that Texas town
'bout that shack outside La Grange
and you know what I'm talkin' about.
Just let me know if you wanna go
to that home out on the range.
They gotta lotta nice girls ah.

Have mercy.
A haw, haw, haw, haw, a haw.
A haw, haw, haw.

Well, I hear it's fine if you got the time
and the ten to get yourself in.
A hmm, hmm.
And I hear it's tight most ev'ry night,
but now I might be mistaken.
hmm, hmm, hmm.

Ah have mercy.

- Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill & Frank Beard

US Chess League

2011-10-14T11:04:00.000-07:00

I have to admit I do not follow the USCL. I received the Mechanics' Institute Chess Club Newsletter #555 today via email. Coverage of the San Francisco USCL team showed that they had lost to the Chicago team by a score of 2 1/2 to 1 1/2. GMs squared off on the top two boards and both games were drawn. Two IMs faced each other on board three and that game was also drawn. Ratings were not given for the players on board four, so I went to the USCL website (http://www.uschessleague.com/games1.html) to find: Uyanga Byambaa (SF) vs NM Sam Schmakel (CHC) 0-1. So the Chicago player is a NM, but how strong is the SF player? I clicked on the game to learn that he Byambaa is rated 2080, and Schmakel is rated 2190. The match was decided by these two lower rated players. The ratings of the other players range from 2687 to 2415, a difference of 272 points. The difference between Angelo Young (2415) on board three and Byambaa (2080) on board four is 335 points.
This is like one of those 'which one does not belong' pictures. How can the USCL ever be taken seriously when there is such a FORCED disparity in the skill levels of the players? It would be better, and much more interesting, if teams consisted of the strongest players available and not much weaker players who are playing in order to fit some arbitrary rating cap.

Are Last Rounds More Important?

2011-10-11T14:47:00.000-07:00

GM Nigel Davies, in a post entitled, 'Last Rounds' on his blog, The Chess Improver, has this to say about the importance of last rounds: "I’m convinced that the later rounds of a tournament carry far more weight than the early ones. How can this be when the same number of points can be scored throughout a tournament? Well in the games leading up to them players are often trying to consolidate their position in the tournament, building hopes and expectations as they pull their punches or abandon their fears. And in this highly charged atmosphere dramatic swings in fortune become much more likely." (http://chessimprover.com/?p=1813)
The GM is writing about the just concluded Bilboa Masters tournament. I have written much the same about the weekend swiss, so it is great to see my position in print, especially by a GM, who because of his numbers, has much more gravitas than I.
When half-point byes first appeared, they were only allowed in the first three rounds. That was to allow a player who had to work to miss the Friday night round; or the Saturday morning round; or even the Saturday night round, if playing to midnight, or later, and then having to be back at the board at ten am was too much. Then the half-point bye was allowed in the fourth round Sunday morning for those who believe in a myth and wish to spend their time among other 'believers'. I have always liked what the Legendary Georgia Ironman had to say about those who missed the fourth round for their 'Sunday go to meeting'. He once said, "Bacon, when I'm at the board for the fourth round Sunday morning, I AM at my church!" Now the half-point bye is even allowed in the last round! It has become a weapon to be used by those who often lose in the last round to higher rated players.
I asked a fellow named Big Jeff why he had quit chess. He was honest enough to admit that, "I am a half-point the better players as I always seem to finish a half-point behind." Too bad half-point byes were not allowed back in Big Jeff's day...

Dark Stuff & Reality

2011-10-10T08:31:00.000-07:00

Having read 'The 4 Percent Universe: Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and the Race to Discover the Rest of Reality' by Richard Panek, it was with great interest I learned of the awarding of the Nobel prize in Physics to Saul Permutter; Brian Schmidt; and Adam G Riess. (See: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/05/science/space/05nobel.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=dennis%20overbye&st=cse) Because the book brings out their human qualities, I view them as not just cold, calculating scientists.
The Noble was awarded for their work on the accelerating universe. (See the Astronomy Picture of the Day at: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html)
But is the universe really accelerating?
A new idea has been put forward by Edmund Schluessel of Cardiff University. He argues that gravitational waves, which are disturbances in the fabric of spacetime created by massive gravitational disturbances like colliding black holes or the Big Bang, are big enough to disrupt our observation of the distant universe. His theories are not accepted by the established physics pooh-bahs, but what if he is correct? Read all about it at: (http://io9.com/5844188/gigantic-gravitational-waves-could-explain-the-universes-biggest-mysteries)

2011 Georgia Senior

2011-10-08T10:24:00.000-07:00

The Monday after the Georgia Senior I received an email from my friend Mike Mulford, aka 'Mulfish'.
Bacon,

You're going to have a field day with this one.

http://main.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201110023011-12565083

Mike

I replied to Mulfish that I had already learned of the small turnout via an email from the Legendary Georgia Ironman. Tim reported, "Fun Fong reported a total of 14 at the ill planned Georgia Senior, which conflicted with the 3rd Annual Fall Kickoff, my brainchild, as Vest told the cameraman during the interview today. We had 108 at old North DeKalb Mall and the house was rocking. Mr. G was on hand all day as one of the assistant TDs. I am planning to help Thad promote an Atlanta Senior at the ACC around the end of the year. It could well be the last dance at the HOP. Thad told me tonight that Spinks was exhibiting symptoms of a possible stroke when he was there last week."
I could not help but think of the ol' chess coach, the Legendary Georgia Ironman, when watching this video: http://chessforallages.blogspot.com/2011/10/snls-profiles-in-sports.html

I wrote to Mulfish, "That's 3 Seniors (Tim and his sidekick David Vest and Mr G.)who woulda played at another time. There's a huge difference between 14 & 17!
It actually makes me quite sad, Mike. I cannot recall exactly what the turnout was last year, or the previous years, but it seems that the numbers have dwindled. This is a bad thing for Senior chess! If players do not come, they will stop having tournaments, which is, I expect, what most pooh-bahs want. Rather than take the time to ascertain why the players are not coming, I'm afraid they will concentrate on where the money is-with the kids...
Organizers continue to do goofy things-like the 'drop-ins' at Harry's Tn Senior, for example. Mostly they just continue to do the same things that have proven to not work. Is that not a sign of insanity?!
This tournament does point out what I've written about in that, like Klaus said, "A Senior tournament should be an open tournament, because at our age anyone can beat anyone!" Better to have one 14 player tournament than one 5 & one 9 player tournaments. That has been proven conclusively at the House of Pain!"
I had considered making the trip down for the Senior in the Great state of Georgia, but decided against it. I sent this to Mulfish before the tournament: "I want you to know that I had given consideration to coming down to play next weekend. I considered the cost, which is considerable. 800 miles would be about a C-note in petrol. Then there's the hotel expense with the average room being about $100 these daze, so a cheap one would be $50, making it another C-note. (If I'd known about it earlier, I could've gotten an extended stay for a week for about $50 or so more, which woulda been better) Then there's the fact that I would hafta drive all day Friday, which wipes me out for the next day, and I can't drive back Sunday night, so that's another night in a hotel...Then there's EF & United Scholastic Chess Federation dues...Not to mention the fact that I've not played chess in a coupla years, nor have I prepared at all....Then there's the time control, a time control I've never used in my life! I do not understand why you people continue to use new-fangled TC's for us 'old-timers'...I would even prefer a 40/90 with a SD of 30, or even 15, plus the time added for only the second control. Most games are over by the end of the first TC anyway...And then there's the noon start time on Sat. WTF for? I mean, do you REALLY think out of towners are gonna drive in Sat morning and look forward to playing a game at 5:30, which will end at what, 10 or 11? HeyZeus, don't you folks read the BaconLOG?! What's wrong with ending the first day at 7, or even 8, so that a SENIOR can have a decent meal and actually get a night's sleep? We are OLD, and we need REST! There is hardly any time between rounds to stuff a biggy burger in one's gullet and cram it down before having to be back at the board! So much for digestion and a nap..."
Let me say that having two sections points out a fact that with more sections there is a greater probability of having more players sitting out with a bye by being an odd man out. If this had been one 14 man section, there would have been a even number of players.
Mr Mulford was unable to play because of a serious family matter. I could not help but notice that Mark Couvillion, who won last year (or was it the year before?), did not play, which is strange since it was held at his cousin Joe's North Georgia Chess Center. There were many others I did not see on the crosstable. I cannot help but wonder why they did not play. Some interested person should make contact with every player who has played in the past to ascertain why they chose not to play this year. An effort should be make to contact those that could come, but chose to stay home. I am afraid what will happen to Senior tournaments is the same thing that Republicans are trying to do to government. They appoint lackies and toadies like 'Brownie' and his 'superior' Chertoff, who kept his job even though he proved how incompetent he was, and then say, "Government doesn't work!" The fact is that government works fine when competent people are placed in proper positions. Chess pooh-bahs will continue to foist poor tournaments on Seniors and when they do not come will say it is proof that Senior tournaments do not work.
I noticed that the 2012 US Senior is once again in Houston in July. I guess the 'drop-ins' (see http://baconlog.blogspot.com/2011/08/thoughts-on-us-senior.html) who played a few games one day, took some half-point byes, and played one real game on the last day put a large enough smile on the pooh-bahs faces that they decided to stick with a 'good thing'. I can't help but think of something written to me via email by a well respected Senior about playing in Houston during July: "Spending a week at the Houston airport in July does not appeal to me." Me neither!

Risk-taking and Attractiveness in Chess

2011-10-07T09:37:00.000-07:00

The article on Chessbase begins: "In a recent research project on expert chess players, scientists found that male chess players choose more aggressive chess openings on average when playing against good-looking female opponents compared to when playing against less attractive female opponents, although they are equally skilled, experienced and of similar age." (http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=7569)
I can only recall playing a couple of members of the opposite sex, and fortunately, both were too young for me to have lascivious thoughts. There is no way for me to know from experience if I would be more agressive if I crossed mental swords with a pretty woman.
One does have to face women in backgammon though. I always found it disconcerting to play any woman, whether attractive or not. I recall facing a woman in the very first round of a major tournament; that being a weekend tournament, as opposed to a nightly tournament. With only one checker left I was off the next roll. My opponent had four men left on her six point which meant only one roll-double sixes, a 35-1 shot-would win for her. When the dice landed on double sixes, I thought of something a friend used to say. "Supposed to happen."
"Oh Michael, I'm so sorry," she said. "You're a top player and have a chance to win this tournament." I looked at this woman and thought before speaking. She was nice enough when she was not drunk. She came to many tournaments for the social aspect of it and never won, but kept coming back. Players like her enhanced to prize fund considerably. She would keep coming back, telling anyone who would listen that she once beat me in an official tournament match. I smiled and said, "Do not ever say you're sorry to win! You play all the time and are bound to win sometime. It is my misfortune that it happened to be at this time. Good luck in the tournament." She was knocked-out in the next round.
The Legendary Georgia Ironman played the lovely Jennifer Shahade once. He had this to say about the experience, "I went 69 tuff moves facing down that double-barreled shotgun!" I have often wondered whether Tim was more, or less, agressive playing that game.

It Was Uggla

2011-10-03T15:12:00.001-07:00

The Braves collapsed because they could not score runs while the Red Sox collapsed because they could not stop the opposing team from scoring runs. The Sox averaged scoring a little over five runs a game from April through August, and kept it up during September. Their downfall was that they allowed an average of two more runs per game during the last month of the season. Fortunately for the Braves, their collapse has been over shadowed by the Red Sox, especially now that 'Tito' Francona has been forced out as manager. Boston did underachieve though, coming in at 90-72 when their Pythagorean (runs scored vs runs allowed) W-L record was 94-68. The Braves, on the other hand, over performed to the tune of four games. Their 89-73 record should have been 85-77.
Terry Francona is a fine manager and I have rooted for him, not only because to root for the Red Sox means seeing the Damn Yankees lose, but also because he, along with his teammate, Buddy Bell, were in my Buckhead Safety Cab when they were both in town with the Reds to face the Braves in the mid to late 80's. Terry was amazed that I knew so much about his father, Tito, who had played for the Braves in 1969, one of my favorite seasons because the Braves won the Western division title. What the hell they were doing in the 'west' along with the Dodgers & Giants, both on the left coast is anybody's guess! I told Terry that it broke my heart when the Braves sold his father to the Oakland A's that summer. I thought it was a big mistake since Tito was a 'professional hitter', and he proved it by hitting almost .350 down the stretch with the A's, after hitting almost .300 with the Braves. He said I would get a good tip, so I told Buddy that I had several of his father's baseball cards from the early 60's, when he was over 30 and declining, but I knew from the back of the cards that Gus had put together some real good years in the early to mid 50's. Buddy said he would double the tip! They asked me to suggest a bar with good food and I took them to Aunt Charley's, where they invited me in and bought my meal while we talked baseball. And yes, the tip was HUGE!
After the Braves lost one of the tv men asked Dan Uggla, "How can you explain it, Dan?" Uggla said, "We went out and left everything on the field." Yeah, right. I thought of my favorite baseball movie, Bull Durham, when Crash is trying to tell the kid how to talk to interviewers when he gets to the show. "Just fill 'em with cliches."
Earlier they had shown the 'game changing moment' which was Uggla's 3-run homer in the third inning. That would be all the runs the Braves would score. I thought the 'game changing moment' occurred in the bottom of the sixth when Uggla failed to score when he was tagged out at the plate. There were two outs, with Uggla on second and Freddie Freeman on first, after both had drawn base on balls. Jack Wilson hit a line drive single to right field which was fielded by Hunter Pence. Uggla, not a fast or good baserunner, rounded third and I could not help but think of Pete Rose in the All Star game when he rounded third with his head down heading for home. In what has become a defining moment for 'Charley Hustle', he barreled into the catcher, Ray Fosse, who had tried to block the plate, like a torpedo, and scored. Uggla took a look at the right fielder after he rounded third, which seemed to slow him down. The Phillies catcher, Ruiz, was blocking the dish with his left leg as he awaited the one-hop throw. Uggla had two choices at this point...He could have slid in with his feet first, as is taught to every player since little league, and maybe his foot would dislodge the catchers leg. Or he could have taken the Pete Rose route and crashed into the Ruiz, the preferred method. Uggla did niether. He slid into home face first and never even touched home plate! That was an unforgivable baseball sin. He was out and it was like you could see the Braves balloon deflate. If he had come hard-charging into home and blasted Ruiz he would have made a statement and fired up his teanmates, even if he had been out. Even if he had 'slud hard' as ol' Dizzy Dean used to say, with his feet first, it would have shown something. Instead, the Braves with Uggla as an example, with down meakly, like wimps. It was the Braves season in a microcosm.
One of the tv guys said he had talked with someone in baseball who said the Braves could only score runs with the home run. No one typlfied that as much as Dan Uggla. With him it was all or nothing. He averages striking out once a game, and has done so over his career. His on base % fell to only .311 this year, below major league average. To score runs a team must have a sustained offense. The Braves OBP was only .308 this year, below average. Good things happen when a batter gets his bat on the ball as shown by the blow from which the Braves could not recover, a soft, broken-bat, floater, hit by Hunter Pence, a batter who chokes up on the bat, and still hits 20+ home runs. As pointed out by the announcers, if Freeman had not been holding the runner on first, the ball would have been caught.
Uggla salvaged his season this year with his good second half. Still, it did not make up for the abysmal first half. His defense, by any measure, is not up to major league standards. For example, defensively he rated -1.6 in Wins Above Replacement, which means some guy in triple A could field better than Uggla. An example would be when the umpire saved Uggla's butt in the top of the sixth. After Utley singled, Pence hit a ground ball to Uggla, who made a backhand flip to the SS that had nothing on it whatsoever. By the time the SS caught the ball he was way off of the bag, and the runner should have been called safe, but the ump called him out and the SS completed a double-play. The commentators mentioned it, saying, "He was in the vicinity."
Actually, losing could have been the best thing that could have happened for the Braves. The Braves were being discussed on ESPN and they were talking specifically about Greg Kimbrel's failure to close out the game and earn a 'save'. Bobby Valentine put the blame on the manager, Fredi Gonzalez, for his abuse of his young relievers all year. Kimbrel could not find the strike zone and Bobby V said, "First goes the control and then goes the arm." He also mentioned that Greg had logged more innings than any other 'closer'. I followed the Braves mostly by box score this year, watching only a dozen or so games. It sure seemed that Kimbrel and Venters were brought into far too many games in which the Braves had a 2 or 3 run, or even more, lead. Kimbral's ERA for most of the year was around 2.00, but balooned to over 4.50 in September. The last thing the young relievers needed was to have to hurl more innings in high pressure situations this year. As it is they will be fortunate if at least one of the young guns does not blow out his arm next year.
When a team collapses the manager must accept responsibility. It is kinda like the captain of a ship. The buck has gotta stop somewhere. One of the biggest decisions facing any manager is the problem of the under performing former star. An example of it would be how the Damn Yankees manager, Joe Girardi, handled the situation with 39 year-old Jorge Posada. Joe slotted Jorge in the ninth position in the batting order and the vastly over paid former star refused to play after whining like a little girl. It seems batting last was too much for his fragile ego. He should have been happy to be in the lineup in lieu of on the bench, where he belonged! Later on in the season the manager finally put him on the bench, where he was still drawing his gargantuan salary, I might add. Joe did it for the good of the team and the organization.
The Braves mamager faced a similar situation with his former star, Chipper Jones. Chipper had a damn good year considering his age, 39. His WAR was a positive 2.8. Offensively it was 3.1, but on defense it was -0.3. In the top of the 12th inning on the final day of the season the first batter hit a hot shot to Chipper's left, which went through for a base hit. One of the announcers said, "A lotta big league third basemen woulda scooped that up but Chipper's 39 year old legs cost him half a step." Someone chimed in with the fact that Chipper was playing with a knee that was "bone on bone." It hurt just to hear it...
In game number 150 on Wednesday, September 14, vs the Fish, a game the Braves won, Chipper went 0 for 4. There was an off day the next day. From game 151 until the end of the season, Fredi put Chipper's name in the lineup in every game but one, #156, a game in which Chipper pinch-hit, making an out. In the final 13 games of the season Chipper went 8 for 46, an average of .174. He went 2 for 4 in game #160, with a home run and a double. In only one other game during that stretch did Chipper get two hits, with that being in game 152, and one of the hits was a double.
In an article in the NY Times newspaper after the Braves lost to the Phils on Sept 27 it was written, "Just after Chipper Jones agonizingly lugged down the first-base line Monday on a double-play grounder in the eight inning, Braves Manager Fredi Gonzales whistled to get his attention. Gonzalez invited Jones, with a gesture, to consider leaving the game. No, came the answer, via a shaked of the head."
The thing is that the above was NOT included in the online article on the NY Times website! (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/28/sports/baseball/lowe-and-jones-cant-halt-braves-slide.html?_r=1)
I sent this to my friend, the Discman, regarding the story: Since when did a manager hafta ask his aging 'star' if'n he wants to come outta the lineup?! What the hell kinda weak-assed manager ASKS?! If the guy cannot perform, the manager OWES it to the team and the organization to get his ass offa the field! Can you imagine Billy Martin asking anyone if'n he wants to come offa the field?!!!
It was terribly sad to read about and see Chipper play during the final stretch run. It was more than a little obvious that he was hurting, and hurting his team by playing. Chipper WAS a great player; a sure HOFer if ever there was one. But by the end of the season Chipper Jones had become Chi Jo at best. The manager had other players who could have played who were not injured, and could have helped the team, in lieu of hurting it. It was the manager's responsibility to put the best players on the field, for the good of the team and the organization. It was obvious that Chipper was not gonna come offa the field unless forced to do so. For that Fredi Gonzalez should be forced to seek employment elsewhere, for the good of the team and the organization.

Ted Williams Wing Men

2011-10-02T08:48:00.000-07:00

After what is being called the greatest night in the regular season by the media it seems as if everyone is talking about the great game of baseball, so I will drop my two cents worth into the pool. Everyone has his own way of looking at things and I am no exception. The difference between the 'talking heads' on the tube and me is that they get paid by baseball, directly or indirectly, which causes them to lead the cheers rather than take an honest and objective look at the state of the game. For example, I have heard it said that Bud Selig should be enshrined immediately in the baseball Hall of Fame because of the 'excitement' caused by the reprehensible 'wild card'. Curt Schilling, a perfect name for one leading the cheers for baseball, was on ESPN wearing a shit-eating grin, beside himself with joy as he said, "There are four cities filled with excitement because of the wild card!" The fact is that if the Red Sox and Braves had not collapsed completely there would have been no 'wild card' race and the playoff teams would have been set before Labor Day, and not much 'excitement' in Mudville. Although I realize most of the people following baseball are not old enough to remember the 1960's before the leaguse split into divisions, I still cringe when they try to foist this 'wild card' crapola on we the fans as something wonderful. I loath and detest the 'wild card'! How can a loser ever win? (How can you mend a broken heart?) Become a WILD CARD! Pitiful, ain't it? You can put lipstick on a pig... The year of the Phillies infamous collapse, 1964, saw the Cardinals take first place, with the Phils and Reds only one game behind. The Giants were only three games behind and the Braves finished only five games out of first place. Now that's what I call a pennant race! I would come home from the Boys Club and listen to the St Louis Cardinals game on the radio every night because at that time the Braves were still in Milwaukee and if you lived in the glorious South, the Cardinals were your team. If you do not understand why, you obviously do not know much about history...and probably biology too, I'm willing to wager. In the AL that year the Damn Yankees finished only one game ahead of the White Sox, with the Orioles only three back. The pennant races really did go down to the wire and there were seven excited cities in '64. It was not the only year with close races. 1967 saw the Boston Red Sox finish only one game ahead of both Detroit and Minnesota, with the White Sox three back and the surprising California Angels seven and a half back after being in contention most of the year, but fading at the end. That was the year Carl Yastrzemski put the team on his back and carried them across the finish line. He hit like Teddy Ballgame the last month of the season, with a batting average over .400. Speaking of Ted Williams, there was a fine story about him by Bill Pennington published in the NY Times Sept 17 (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/18/sports/baseball/ted-williamss-406-average-is-more-than-a-number.html?scp=2&sq=ted%20williams&st=cse)There is a series of pictures showing Ted swinging a bat in the clubhouse. Although he was a big man for that time, he looks positively skinny compared to today's 'juiced' players. Ted was lean. Today's players are muscle-bound, which is one reason there are so many injuries these days. The tendons and ligaments simply cannot handle the extra bulk.
From the article: "His batting average stood at .39955 with a season-finale doubleheader to be played the next day at Shibe Park, home of Connie Mack’s Athletics. Since batting averages are rounded to the next decimal, Williams could have sat out the final two games and still officially crested baseball’s imposing .400 barrier.
At the time, Williams said, “If I’m going to be a .400 hitter, I want more than my toenails on the line.”
I thought of that when reading the scrawl while watching the final night of the regular season. Jose Reyes pulled himself out of the game after a bunt single on the last day of the season, giving Ryan Braun a chance to win the title with an outstanding day. Unfortunately, he did not get a hit. I recall a Braves player, Gerald Perry, in 1988, was at .2998 going into the last game of the season and chose not to play as it would be rounded to .300. Ted Williams flew combat missions in the Big One, World War 2. I don't think Ted would have wanted either of these guys flying with him as his wing men.

Counterplay: A Review

2011-09-25T09:06:00.000-07:00

Counterplay: An Anthropologist at the Chessboard, by Robert Desjarlais, is one of the most interesting books about the game of chess I have ever read. This book made me stop reading and start thinking numerous times. Since the author questions exactly what chess is, and why we play, reading it has made me ask the same questions. Everyone involved with the Royal game brings his view to the board. The author is an anthropologist, and looks at the game from that particular perspective, which is one of the things that makes the book so interesting.
When I read a book I use post-it notes in lieu of actually writing in the book. There were a couple of dozen posted in the book upon completion. These are for things I found interesting, with a view toward writing a review.
The first chapter is entitled, 'Blitzkrieg Bop'. As you can imagine, it concerns 'blitz' chess. The author writes, "Blitz carries tones of pure immediacy. When playing blitz you're in the moment of that moment, with little time to think of anything else. It's a world of spontaneity and presence, of the "quick now, here, now, always," to use a poet's words." The footnote informs that the poet is T.S. Eliot, "Burnt Norton," The Four Quartets.
His description made me think of the Tao of chess; the Zen quality of being in the moment. On the following page we have another view of blitz chess from Kelly Atkins. "Blitz is fine for those who enjoy it, and it has its place, but it's the fast food version of our game-McChess in my book."
The author is a strong amateur tournament player. One of the things I like most about his book is that he talks with many different players and has some wonderful quotes. For example, "Many dislike playing children: "I hate playing kids in tournaments. It's terrible, because if you lose, it's obviously humiliating. But if you beat them, you feel kind of bad: you've crushed this eight-year-old kid."
Then there is this during a tournament game in which he was participating. "You step away from the board and go to the small bathroom just outside the playing room. You open the door cautiously. A few weeks back you stumbled upon a nine-year-old boy and his parents, huddled together. The parents were consoling their son, who was teary-eyed and sniffly. He had just lost a game against an international master he had good chances of defeating."
These two excerpts vividly illustrate what tournament chess has become over the past two decades with the emphasis on scholastic, or children's chess. The sniveling, whiney, children proliferate at every tournament. Who says there is no crying in chess?
Desjarlais writes about his love affair with one particular opening in the chapter entitled 'Sveshnikov Intrigues'. In a sub-heading of 'Infinite Strange Shapes', he says, "Different openings possess different qualities. The structures and energies common to a specific opening give it particular features, distinct tones of an almost metaphysical kind." He writes about what several different openings remind him of: "The pawn deposits of the Slave (sic) Defense remind me of the stalactites found in icy caves. The endgames of the Grunfeld Defense evoke an arid but fertile desert." This is one of the points where I had to put the book down and close my eyes while contemplating what I had just read. I had never thought about openings in this way. I reflected upon the openings I played, and why I chose them. I thought about the Dragon, which I had never played. It did not look like a Dragon to me. It was just called the Dragon. As far as I was concerned, it could have just as easily been called the Moon variation of the Sicilian Defense. I used to play the Grunfeld, but never thought of the endgames emanating from it as anything other than an endgame. I picked the book up again and read, "The French Defense resembles a labyrinth of forking paths..." But that could be said about any opening, I thought. Reading on, "...while the Najdorf Sicilian is a brutal street fight, with a swirl of knives slashing about." Yes! And I smiled to myself because, like a grasshopper, I had attained understanding! I played the Najdorf when I took up the game and played it until I no longer had time to keep up with the plethora of novelties. I loved the Najdorf like no other opening and felt most comfortable when it appeared on the board. The Najdorf seemed to 'fit' with my approach to chess in my early years while in my 20's. Other players picked up on this and began to play early deviations when I played 1...c5. I asked a NM, Michael Lucas, why he had played 2 c3 and he said, "Because everybody knows you get fired-up when you get to play the Najdorf!" I lost not one, but two games in which Mr Lucas moved his c-pawn on the second move, and both the same way, with him queening his c-pawn!
The author talks with Jim Santorelli, the cofounder of the National Scholastic Chess Foundation. "I love teaching chess," he (Jim) says. "I love teaching kids more. Chess is what I teach. I believe in what I teach. It is a phenomenal educational tool. Chess encompasses every aspect of critical thinking skills."
Jim mentions one of the negative aspects of teaching chess when he says, "I have lost the competitiveness in me somewhat, because that's all I do," he said in 2007. "I'm teaching chess all the time. The whole rationale is, that the last thing Tiger Woods is going to want to do when he's on vacation is to play a round of golf. My hobby is not chess at the moment. Chess cannot be my hobby..."
I pondered that while thinking of something IM John Donaldson said while doing commentary on the US Championship while sitting next to Jennifer Shahade, who has given up playing chess. John said he thought it was important for those who do other things in chess, like teaching, to continue to actually play the game. Could teaching be one of the reasons more former players have given up playing tournament chess?
Some of the best thoughts come from women who play the game. For example, he writes that Elizabeth Vicary thinks "...some male chess players exhibit an orientation to the game-scrutinizing pawn endings late into the night, fretting over side variations in Petroff's Defense, competing for days on end, parsing minute differences in middlegame continuations, often to the disregard of social ties or life more generally-that smacks of "autistic obsessiveness." He quotes her as saying, "I think there's a connection here: the fact that men more readily display autistic tendencies than women, and the fact that men are more obsessive about chess than women are."
In other words, you do not have to be autistic to play chess, but it helps!
The author writes honestly about his changing feelings for the game in a chapter entitled, Ambivalence. I have already written about the chapter in the BaconLOG post, Decisions, Sunday, September 11, 2011. Mr Desjarlais writes of a conversation he had with IM Greg Shahade, who has recently started playing chess again. After reading what he had to say, one wonders why. He told the author: "It's brutal to play in these tournaments sometimes. It's just so unpleasant. They make it such hard work. I don't know why people can enjoy a game that can last six hours, followed by another game that can last six hours in one day. It's not fun...You don't want to play again after a long game." Ain't that the truth!
When the author writes, "Disillusioned is what I am," the reader can empathize because he understands from where the disillusionment emanates.
In many ways the 7th chapter, Cyberchess, is the most disquieting. What high level chess has become during the age of the 'puter is vivvidly illustrated by a quote from the former World Champion, Vladimir Kramnik, the man who dethroned the Champion known best for his Vulcan mind-meld with computer chess programs, Garry Kasparov. The author writes, "Since many potential opponents have the same information stored on databases on their own computers, a few clicks away, grandmasters are compelled to undertake the labor-intensive task of analyzing and memorizing thickets of critical lines that they might encounter during their games, to avoid walking into an opponent's computer-assisted home preparation. Vladimir Kramnik explained to an interviewer, "You have to be much more precise when you analyze positions than before. In the era before computers you had certain interesting lines, moves that looked good, and that was enough. Your preparation was done, you just went out and played the move. Basically your preparation took two hours. Now the same thing will take five hours or more. You have to check all the games of your opponent, then you check everything that happened in the line you are planning to play. Then you find out what Fritz says about the ideas you have come up with, and try to remember this all. So you are working much harder."
I am reminded of a time not so long ago when computers first appeared in the workplace. It was said that office productivity would increase exponentially because of the machines. Sometime later articles began to appear in which the so-called 'experts' were confounded because every study indicated that office productivity had actually decreased. Thinking about what Vladimir said made me envision today's GM in a room with a different computer, crunching variations, for each of his opponents in the upcoming tournament. I also thought of the famous picture of Garry Kasparov, with glasses, while looking at a 'puter when working with Magnus Carlsen, who was, at least, moving actual wooden pieces on a wooden chessboard. (http://www.whychess.org/node/1904)
The reason this is such a good book is because of the authors honesty. Many in the world of chess would have you believe that everything is good in chess; that there is no bad. I have been told by the pooh-bahs that I should not write anything negative about chess; that there is enough negative aspects written about the game that I do not need to add to it. It is simply not possible for me to be a 'cheerleader'. The author takes an objective look at what chess has become today. For that I applaud him. When I give a chess lesson, I always think of something the Legendary Georgia Ironman told me while we were standing on the balcony looking down at the empty tournament hall before play was to begin in a World Open. "Bacon," Tim said, "Everyone here has had their life altered by the game." Chess will have a positive, and a negative, affect on everyone who steps into the arena. Everyone contemplating playing tournament chess should read this book, especially the parents of children about to enter the strange world of chess. Consider this from GM Nigel Davies, writing about his son and chess: "I must say that I’m delighted to have managed to interest him in chess because I’m convinced it’s great for developing young minds and offers a way better than average peer group. But before anyone asks I would not want him to try and do chess for a living, at least not as a professional player." (http://chessimprover.com/?p=1555) I cannot imagine any father saying that about his son and baseball, golf, or tennis. Can you?
The author writes: "As one man explained to me, "But I do like chess. I also don't like it."

"Hapley's Counter-Gambit"

2011-09-22T08:48:00.000-07:00

GM Yasser Seirawan won an award from the Chess Journalist's of America for Best Historical Article, which is strange because his short story is FICTION! The story, A Forgotten Chess Tale: Hapley's Project, appeared in the November, 2010, issue of Northwest Chess magazine.
Mark Taylor, doing double-duty, is the editor of the award winning Georgia Chess magazine, and also editor of the Chess Journalists of America publication. Concerning Yasser's story, he writes, "For whatever reason, Seirawan's story is restricted to the print copy. I read it. It's a short story, fiction. Not bad as such. But, to my way of thinking, that cannot be an historical article, which I understand means non-fiction research. Maybe the CJA judges think differently, but that award decision does not sit well with me."
When the awards were announced, the story could not be found on the Northwest Chess website. (http://www.nwchess.com/) The rest of the issue was available in PDF format, but not Yasser's award winning short story. It has now been posted along with the rest of the issue, which is a very good issue, indeed! You can find it here: http://www.nwchess.com/nwcmag/back_issues.htm
It is wonderful chess fiction! I urge everyone to read it and tell your friends. As a matter of fact, it is so good that you should consider burying the hatchet and tell your enemies!
The story is dedicated to Fred & Carol Kleist. I played both in the 2002 US Open, winning against Carol, but later in the tournament Fred, playing like a man possessed, got revenge!
Most of those reading this are probably not old enough to remember Yasser in his prime. I can tell you that if you mention Yasser to any of us older players most will tell you that he was known for his King-walks. Keep that in mind while reading his short story.

Flip Flop Fly Ball

2011-09-19T14:38:00.000-07:00

Just finished reading one of the most amazing baseball books I have ever had the pleasure to read. It is, Flip Flop Fly Ball: An Infographic Baseball Adventure, by Craig Robinson. He is an Englishman who fell in love with baseball. He views the game somewhat differently, which is one of the most attractive features of the book. Even the fact that he is a fan of the Damn Yankees did not detract from my enjoyment. He has a wonderful website I suggest you go to immediately! http://www.flipflopflyin.com/flipflopflyball/index.html

All The World Is A Chessboard

2011-09-16T08:50:00.000-07:00

I am always intrigued when I spot a reference to chess in an article about something other than chess. For example, take the opening paragraph from, Doubts On “Official Story” of Bin Laden Killing by Russ Baker, on the WhoWhatWhy: Forensic Journalism: Thinking Hard, Digging Deep, website: (http://whowhatwhy.com/2011/08/17/raidbinladen/)
"The establishment media just keep getting worse. They’re further and further from good, tough investigative journalism, and more prone to be pawns in complicated games that affect the public interest in untold ways. A significant recent example is The New Yorker’s vaunted August 8 exclusive on the vanquishing of Osama bin Laden."
I was reminded of a Bob Dylan song, Only A Pawn In Their Game.
Later on chess gets another mention: "The line about Brennan himself having been a former CIA station chief in Saudi Arabia is just sort of dropped in there. No recognition of what it means that a person of that background was put into that position after 9/11, no recognition that a person of that background and those fraught personal connections is controlling this narrative. He’s not just a “counterterrorism expert”—he is a longtime member of an agency whose mandate includes the frequent use of disinformation. And one who has his own historic direct links to the Saudi regime, a key and problematical player in the larger chess game playing out."

Decisions

2011-09-11T08:53:00.000-07:00

After reading an article by John Tierney in the NY Times Magazine, Do You Suffer From Decision Fatigue?, Published: August 17, 2011,
(http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/21/magazine/do-you-suffer-from-decision-fatigue.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=to%20choose%20is%20to%20lose&st=cse)
I thought of something GM Yasser Seirawan had written in his excellent blog post on WhyChess: "American tournament chess, at least in the world of the early seventies, and I don’t think it has changed that much, was the land of the Open Swiss tournament. The events I became most familiar with were the five-round Swiss. These were tournaments where we played in a single weekend, three games on Saturday and two on Sunday. The time-controls were about five hours in length. Hence for the Saturday rounds the whole day, often fourteen hours and more with meals sandwiched in between the rounds was the norm. Toss in some time to drive to the tournament hall and the whole weekend was devoted to the event."- Yasser Seirawan From PART TWO:
“Where are the Blitz Champions?” of “Why Blitz?” (http://www.whychess.org/blogs/yasser.seirawan)
Now that I am older, I wonder why we played? I mean, you really gotta love the Royal game to suffer through more than around the clock chess. While playing in a weekend swiss, it seemed as if the time flew. But years later, while working at the House of Pain, it seemed the weeked would never end. By then there was an optional first round on Friday night or Saturday morning, and I often wondered why the weekend had been expanded. Then I recalled how I had been one of the players who advocated the expansion! My thinking then was for ONLY a five round swiss, with round one on Friday night and the second round on Saturday morning, with round three Saturday night. Someone got the bright idea to have an optional, truncated first round. I thought that, if a player could not make it Friday night, he could take a half point bye and still play four games. A player could have the option of taking a half point bye in round three Saturday night and still play four games with the 'new' format. Four games, two Saturday and Sunday, is enough chess. Thad Rogers ran a four round tournament once, with playeers complaining that it would not be enough for a clear winner. There WAS a clear winner! With fewer rounds, players had to fight in every round. So many players complaind that Thad went back to the 'traditional' five round swiss for his next tournament. There was a multiple tie for first place...
Tierney writes, "The more choices you make throughout the day, the harder each one becomes for your brain, and eventually it looks for shortcuts, usually in either of two very different ways. One shortcut is to become reckless: to act impulsively instead of expending the energy to first think through the consequences. (Sure, tweet that photo! What could go wrong?) The other shortcut is the ultimate energy saver: do nothing. Instead of agonizing over decisions, avoid any choice. Ducking a decision often creates bigger problems in the long run, but for the moment, it eases the mental strain. You start to resist any change, any potentially risky move — like releasing a prisoner who might commit a crime. So the fatigued judge on a parole board takes the easy way out, and the prisoner keeps doing time."
The essay is adapted from a book Tierney has written with Roy F. Baumeister, "Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength," which will be published next month.
Tierney continues, "The experiments confirmed the 19th-century notion of willpower being like a muscle that was fatigued with use, a force that could be conserved by avoiding temptation.
Any decision, whether it’s what pants to buy or whether to start a war, can be broken down into what psychologists call the Rubicon model of action phases, in honor of the river that separated Italy from the Roman province of Gaul. When Caesar reached it in 49 B.C., on his way home after conquering the Gauls, he knew that a general returning to Rome was forbidden to take his legions across the river with him, lest it be considered an invasion of Rome. Waiting on the Gaul side of the river, he was in the “predecisional phase” as he contemplated the risks and benefits of starting a civil war. Then he stopped calculating and crossed the Rubicon, reaching the “postdecisional phase,” which Caesar defined much more felicitously: “The die is cast.”
Mr. Tierney has written on his blog (http://6thfloor.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/17/why-you-need-to-sleep-on-it/?ref=magazine) a post entitled, "Why You Need To Sleep On It", "These continual exertions explain why willpower fluctuates — and why so many people feel short of it so often."

It is asking too much for a player to play so much chess in so little time. In a two day five round swiss, one must play from Saturday at ten am until midnight, and then try to obtain sleep and get back to the board for two more games, ending somewhere between eight and ten pm. That is twenty five hours at the board in the span of, at most, thirty six hours, leaving little time for sleep. Now, if one plays Friday night, it becomes about forty eight hours, which, if one can sleep sixteen of those hours, there is not much time for anything else, such as scrubbing carcass! Is it any wonder a tournament room smells like a locker room?
I once asked NM Fred Lindsey why he had given up playing tournament chess and he replied, "Twelve hours is a long time to concentrate." GM Vadim Milov said, "Twelve hours of chess is too much at any age." (Quoted from, COUNTERPLAY: An Anthropologist at the Chessboard, by Robert Desjarlais) Some tournaments have a time limit of 40/2 followed by SD/1, which works out to a six hour game. Is it any wonder short draws are played? Top players come to America and find it very difficult to play two six hour games. They are from a culture where only one game a day is the norm. IM Boris Kogan, upon coming to America and playing in a weekend swiss said, "You Americans are CRAZY!"
A chess game is one decision after another for hours on end. Here in America it requires much stamina. Young players have much more stamina than older players and that is, as GM Victor Korchnoi has pointed out, why they excell in around the clock tournaments. It is also one of the reasons older players have given up playing tournament chess. Chess organizers need to consider this in lieu of simply doing the same thing in the same way as it has been done previously. It used to be that medical interns were required to stay awake for an inordinately long time while learning their craft. The practice is changing because studies have proven that lack of sleep is worse that drinking! The brain begins to shut down and good decisions cannot be made. Consider this from Robert Desjarlais: "I could be playing right now as well, eyeing chess pieces, as I'm also enrolled in the tournament. But I decided to sit out the last round of the weekend by taking a half-point bye. I just finished a grueling, five-hour game, which began at ten in the morning, and I have neither the energy to play again today nor the interest. After my first game I felt drained, back-sore, in need of movement." He was playing in the two-weekend schedule of the World Open. He writes this after the fourth game of that first weekend: "The game ended just before four o'clock, with the next round set to begin in an hour's time. I was in no shape to play another game just then, let alone a good one. I felt strung out; my flesh yearned for physical activity. My eyes were tired. The pool beckoned. I decided to take another half-point bye, with the sad realization that I had little competitive fire just then. That itself was a disturbing thought. Where was my will to win?"
Bobby Fischer once said that sleep was more important than knowing theory. Who is going to argue with the greatest chess player ever?
I recently read an article about a secret among the world's elite, young atheletes. The secret is a power nap! Two six-hour games in one day leave little time between rounds to eat, much less rest. Around the clock chess reminds me of what a fellow named Steven Hunt used to do when he ran a tournament he called the 'Insanity Open' because there were games literally around the clock. "I was doing great until the 3 am round..."
Organizers continue to run the same format year after year even with the dwindling attendance. They have players answer questions about which format they prefer. They do not question those many players who have stopped attending.
The ongoing World Cup is using a time limit of 40/90, followed by G/30 plus 30 seconds added per move for what they are calling 'classical' games. That time limit would seem to be more appropriate for a weekend swiss. I like having a time control after 40 moves, even if it is in only 90 minutes, and I really like not having the 30 seconds added until the second time control. Each game would end after two to two and a half hours. Two games could be played in a day, with enough time between rounds to eat and rest. A normal work day is eight hours; anything after constitutes overtime, with pay at time and a half. Is it any wonder that so many players drop out of chess, suffering from 'burn-out', as they age?

The Three Games

2011-09-09T08:47:00.001-07:00

Chess, for example, the great historical game of the West, involves monarchs, armies, slaughter, and the eventual destruction of one king by another. The game appears to be entirely directed along the lines of the great myths of the West from the Mahabharata to the Song of Roland -- the overthrow of a hero and the crowning of a new hero. The pieces, from king down to pawn (peon), give a picture of a heirarchical and pyramidal society with powers strictly defined and limited.

The `Three Games' is a useful classification because taken together they make up a coherent world view. Most of philosophy boils down to speculation centered around the three basic relationships of the human species. The first is man in his relationship to the remote gods and the mysterious forces of the universe. The second is man in the society he builds up around him. The third is man in his own self. Or, to put it another way, man the backgammon-player, man the chess-player, and man the go-player.
From:
Go and the `Three Games'
by William Pinckard
http://www.kiseido.com/three.htm

I am always intrigued when I read anything pertaining to chess. This got me reflecting about the time I found Gammons, a backgammon parlor in the Peachtree/Piedmont Crossing shopping center in the Buckhead part of Atlanta back in the late 70's. I was working at a bookstore, Mr K's, and would walk over after work. There was a bar and backgammon tables where one could play and/or eat. Usually the players would eat while playing so as to not waste time. I would eat dinner and then spectate. I did that for a week or so before trying my luck. One day a former Texas state junior chess champion, Dr Steven Moffit, walked in. I had met him in San Antonio back in '72. He was a professor of statistics and probility at Emory University. It was early and there were no backgammon players yet, so he asked if I had a chess set. I walked back to Mr K's and retrieved my set & clock and we played a 15 minute game. During the game the BG players filtered in, curious to see us playing chess. "What'cha playing for?" one asked. He was disappointed when we said we were playing for the love of the game. "Ain't worth playing if there's no money involved," he said. As I recall, it came down to an ending with little time left on the clock and we began to blitz the moves out. This piqued their interest. I remember thinking that Steve was a positional player because he had white and fianchettoed his King bishop and played an early h3. We agreed to a draw and one of the onlookers said, "You mean there ain't a winner?"
We decided to play another game to even the colors, and someone said, "I got twenty on Moffit!" Steve said, "Hold on now, Mr Bacon won the Atlanta Championship a few years ago. That caused someone to place a wager on me. More people gathered around now that money was on the table, with more money going on Steve, since they knew him, even though he told them he was sorely outta practice. We battled down to just Kings left on the board. "So who won?" They were disappointed when we told them it was another draw. "But you have more time left. Don't you win?" I was asked. Steve told them that it was a draw without enough mating material left on the board. "But can't he just keep moving his King until your time runs out?" Steve told them that it was just not done in chess. "What the hell kinda game is this with no winner?" And they walked away... Then Steve got into a chouette and I watched. As far as I know, that was the only time chess was played at Gammons.
Later, Steve and I got to talking about a board game triathlon, with chess, backgammon, and Go. "Since you play Go, you could have a chance to win," Steve told me. I told him that I knew the rules, but was not much of a Go player, losing almost every game I had played. "That's ok man, most chess and backgammon players do not even know the rules of Go!"
The British with their 'Mind Games' have the nearest thing to a board game triathlon, I suppose. Over the years I've often thought of our idea of a triathlon with The Three Games.

Chess, Scrabble & Go Attendance

2011-09-07T08:14:00.000-07:00

On Tue, Sep 08, 2009, I posted on the USCF forum, Chess vs Scrabble. I contrasted the number of players in the Chess US Open versus the number in the National Scrabble Championship. (http://main.uschess.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=11202&p=161429&hilit=+nocab#p161429)
While researching the number of players at this years Go Congress, I decided to revisit Scrabble. What I found on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Scrabble_Championship) revises what I posted on the USCF forum. This is the revised and updated list, with chess listed first:
1992 Dearborn 496 Atlanta 315
1994 Rosemont 470 Los Angeles 294
1996 Alexandria 515 Dallas 412
1998 Kona 304 Chicago 535
2000 St Paul 492 Providence 598
2002 Cherry Hill 506 San Diego 696
2004 Weston 434 New Orleans 837
2005 Phoenix 455 Reno 682
2006 Chicago 543 Phoenix 625
2008 Dallas 379 Orlando 662
2009 Indy 456 Dayton 486
2010 Irvine 474 Dallas 408
2011 Orlando 367 Dallas 329

It is obvious from the totals above that the transfer of wealth from the taxpayers to the banker bums late in the Bushwhacker administration has had a deleterious effect on the turnout, especially at the Scrabble National Championships. Keep in mind that the Scrabble players do not have an opportunity to 'drop-in' to their tournament later on in the tournament like chess players. If you play in the Scrabble tournament, you are there from day one. When one considers that only one hundred players played in what is now called the 'traditional' schedule of the US chess open, it makes the participation in the 2011 Scrabble tournament look much better. From 1998 through 2009 Scrabble drew more players than chess.
The US Open of Go was held recently in Santa Barbara, California, drawing about 450 players, more than either chess of Scrabble. Part of the reason could be that there are a large number of Go players on the left coast; another reason being the growing popularity in the US of the ancient game of Go, or, more properly, Wei Chi, as it is called in the rest of the world. It is difficult to find figures for Go tournaments. For example, the list on the website of the American Go Association (http://www.usgo.org/tournaments/USOpen/) ends with the 2009 US Open. There are 366 players in the crosstable for the 2009 event. Please note that Go players only play one game a day. It would seem they prefer quality over quantity. The 2008 event drew 352.
Board games are not the only recreational activities affected adversely by the moribund economy. For example, in an article in the NY Times, Neither Smurf Nor Wizard Could Save Summer Movie Attendance (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/05/business/media/summer-movie-attendance-continues-to-erode.html?_r=1&ref=business), it is written that,
"Hollywood has now experienced four consecutive summers of eroding attendance, a cause for alarm for both studios and the publicly traded theater chains. One or two soft years can be dismissed as an aberration; four signal real trouble."

Chess Nepotism

2011-09-05T14:53:00.000-07:00

While reading the comments left on The Chess Mind blog post, 'The Moiseenko-Navara Draw: Honorable, Or Not?', by Dennis Monokroussos(http://www.thechessmind.net/blog/2011/9/4/the-moiseenko-navara-draw-honorable-or-not.html), I found this coment: While on the subject of (dis)honorable draws, anyone notice the itty bitty little draw Ben Finegold offered to his son Spencer in the recent Missouri Championship?

Their whole game was: 1. e4, c6 1/2-1/2
To me, that stinks to the heavens.
http://saintlouischessclub.org/news/2011-08-22/and-winner
[DM: I have no problem with this sort of draw at all - I wouldn't play a real game against a family member either. The Kosintseva sisters do this all the time (though they usually "drag" it out to 10 moves or so), and I'm sure other relations have a similar non-aggression policy. Who is hurt by this? What is problematic is players who are getting an honorarium - getting paid to play - who make a habit of short, bloodless draws. I don't see the problem in "civilian" events.]
September 4, 2011 | RuralRob

That prompted me to leave a comment of my own: I agree with you on this, Dennis. I would also like to comment on the comment by 'RuralRob', and what you have to say about it. I noticed the one move draw given by the GM to his much lower rated son and wrote about it on the BaconLOG (http://baconlog.blogspot.com/2011/08/fix-is-in-st-louis.html). I suggest you read it, and the feedback it engendered. Dennis, you ask, "Who is hurt by this?" The other players competing for second place WERE hurt by it! GM Finegold gave his son a half point that he, most probably, would not have had going into the last round. I have participated in many tournaments where the top player was much higher rated than his opponents. Sometimes the higher rated player would win his first four rounds and then offer a draw to clinch first place IN THE LAST ROUND! A draw was as good as a win in that case. In this case, the GM had to play for a win in the last round because the two players half a point behind him, ONE OF THEM BEING HIS SON, could possibly tie for first, if Ben only drew his last game, and either of them won.
As for the Kosintseva sisters, they have no honor whatsoever. Contrast this with the Williams sisters in tennis. Granted, they have no way of 'splitting the point', fortunately. The McEnroe brothers also had to battle it out on the court. IN A SPORTING COMPETITON NEPOTISM SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED! If one does not wish to play a relative, then one of them should not compete in the event.

Dixie Chess Confederacy

2011-09-05T14:15:00.000-07:00

While reading an online article, 'Chess as a metaphor for life' in the Wednesday, August 3 edition of the Smokey Mountain News (http://www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/4677-chess-as-a-metaphor-for-life), I read this: "That, says Hollingworth, sipping from a coffee cup emblazoned with “Dixie Chess Confederacy”, is the true genius of chess — it’s universality." I thought, "I gotta have one of those coffee mugs!"

Meet Me In St Louis

2011-09-02T15:04:00.000-07:00

Although I have a post ready to go, I have decided to delay it in order to comment on the comments left on my post of Wednesday, August 24, 2011, The Fix Is In St Louis.
Upon reading the comment left by 'Ray', my first thought was, "Well, I've been called worse." I could not recall his last name, so I went to the website of the St Louis Chess & Scholastic Center (http://saintlouischessclub.org/), but could not find him listed as an employee, and did not find a list of members. I recalled that 'Ray' had posted something on the USCF forum pertaining to what has become known as the 'infamous Monroi incident'. I found that on Mon Apr 27, 2009 10:38 am, RayKinStL posted, MonRois and how they are used...tournament question for TDs! (http://main.uschess.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9903)
When he writes on the comments section of the BaconLOG, ..."dealing with the fallout from your stupid temper tantrums when played at the club...", I can only surmise he must be referring to the 'infamous Monroi incident' because that is the only time I have had any contact with the gentleman. BTW, the 'incident' culminated with the father of the boy using his Monroi as a chessboard being reprimanded by USCF for "reprehensible conduct." I recall a "stupid temper tantrum" at that tournament, but I was not the one having a "stupid temper tantrum."
My second thought was, "That makes up my mind about going to St Louis for the opening of the Chess Hall of Fame." I have been debating whether or not to go for some time now. The price of petrol has climbed back up to nearly four bucks a gallon. Although I could not afford to stay in one of the luxury hotels near the club, they could "leave the light on for me" at the same Motel 6 I stayed at when I played in the tournament back in '09. But money is tight these days and I am not sure I can justify making the trip. Obviously, I have been in a quandry...Ray solved the dilemma for me. This messenger does not wish to be killed!
But what has really bothered me is what was left by the last person to make a comment: "If this is an example of the kind of tournament director I will find at the St. Louis Chess Club, I can assure you that I, for one, will never play, or visit, the club."
I would hope that the insensitive comments left by 'Ray' would not preclude anyone from going to St Louis. All of the people I met there treated me wonderfully. I will mention Tony Rich, the manager of the club. After the 'infamous Monroi incident' I travelled to Indianapolis to visit the US Open for a day trip. Upon entering the playing hall, one of the first people I saw was Tony Rich. He was playing, with his opponent on the move. He saw me and immediately got up and walked over to me, extending his hand, giving me a smile. "How are you?", he asked. "I'm OK," I said. "How about you?"
"I'm doing good."
My mother once told me, "Son, listen to what a man says, but watch what he does."
Several people I know saw what had happened and mentioned it to me later.
I sent Tony an email asking about the book on Duchamp, which was on sale. He asked for my address and sent it to me before he received my check. Tony is a real gentleman and he sets the tone for the club. I am sure all of the employees there are like Tony.
Rex Sinquefield has done a GREAT thing by funding the StLCC&SC. It is worth a trip there, if only for a couple of days, just to visit the club. Now the Chess Hall of Fame is about to open, which will make St Louis a 'Mecca' for all friends of chess! Please, go visit the club and HOF. Do not be deterred by what this one man has written. If you go, I am certain it will bring you wonderful memories that will last a lifetime.
As for 'Ray', I am sure that, with time, he will learn that people think less of the one casting aspersions than of the one at whom he has fired his salvos.

Chess Pains

2011-08-31T14:47:00.001-07:00

Before turning in last night I watched an episode of one of my all time favorite sit-coms, FRASIER. It was 'Chess Pains' from Season 3, Episode 18. From IMDB (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106004/episodes#year-1996) "Frasier buys an elaborate antique chess set, but becomes obsessed by his inability to win against Martin."
Martin is Frasier's father. The chess set is a monstrosity. Anyone who would play on such a set should lose; both of them!
There was a line that, had I been aware of it, I would have quoted in my last post. "The King is stationary while the Queen has all the power."
After losing the first game to Martin, Frasier was sitting in the coffee shop, looking at the position on what looked like a wooden travel type board, while talking with Roz, the pretty woman with a mellifluous voice, obviously my favorite character (insert smiley face here). "Now I know how he won," blurts Frasier. "He somehow stumbled onto the Panov-Botvinnik Attack!" At least the writer used a legitimate chess term, although chess players know it as an opening, not a 'winning attack'. Hey, he could have written it as the 'Stalin-Trotsky' attack!

Equality in Chess

2011-08-30T14:58:00.000-07:00

A woman I met mentioned a TV program she is 'hooked on' and suggested I watch a program. The one she suggested was Covert Affairs, Season 2, Episode 8: Welcome to the Occupation. I was able to watch it 'on demand' and found it to be like a comic book come to life. I mentioned this to her at our next meeting, our last, as it turns out. She did not care for what I thought about her "fave program." From IMDB (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1495708/episodes#season-2): "Eco-terrorists hold a group of oil executives hostage in Mexico City, and Ben Mercer re-emerges as part of Annie's team sent in to assess the situation."
Ben is one of the stud's on the show and he was sent along with the star, Piper Perabo and her superior at the C.I.A. to rescue another agent, a woman, who was undercover, and being held hostage. Ben and Annie (Piper) were scaling the wall, heading to the roof, when two 'bad guys', mercenaries armed with assault weapons, were 'overpowered' by the unarmed women. Excellent C.I.A. training, I presume. It strained credulity, to say the least. Hence, the comic book nature of the show.
My female friend took umbrage at my point of view. So I asked her, "If your life were on the line in real life and you had to choose either the unarmed women, or the mercenaries with assault rifles, which would you pick?" She said, "That's not fair." I retorted, "Nobody has ever said that life is fair." She evidently watches a lot of tube because she proceeded to tell me about many programs with women "kickin' men's ass." She mentioned a female character, Ziva David, a trained Mossad assasin, on the #1 rated TV show, NCIS. I don't know the name of the muscle guy on Leverage, but I recall he is called 'Hitter'. I kinda liked that. When I mentioned it was all fantasy, and only served to emasculate men, I thought she might 'kick some Bacon butt'!
This got me cogitating...
Why is it the Queen is so powerful in chess? It was not always thus. It is time to bring the Lady down a peg or more. Why should the Queen be more powerful than the King? I call for EQUALITY!
I propose the Queen be limited to only TWO moves in any direction, providing the square is unoccupied. I also propose equality for the King, who should be allowed two moves in any direction, same as the Queen. Think of it, if the King is checked by a Knight from f3 in the castled position, the King can capture the Knight if it has an open avenue to do so, unless, that is, the Knight is protected. If the Queen checks a King on e1 from, say, e3, the King can capture the Queen, unless it is protected.
This would, along with allowing pawns to 'advance to the rear' (see post, Revolutionary Proposal For Chess: Free The Pawns! Monday, July 25, 2011, http://baconlog.blogspot.com/2011/07/revolutionary-proposal-for-chess-free.html) alter the game drastically. It would also prevent many draws by repetition. And, more importantly, it would bring much needed equality to the game.

The Queen's Gambit Job

2011-08-29T10:57:00.000-07:00

Spent most of Sunday reading, Betrayal in Dallas: LBJ, the Pearl Street Mafia, and the Murder of President Kennedy by Mark North. "A man who knows that enough is enough will always have enough", wrote Lao Tzu, and I had enough reading for the day, so I turned on the boob tube and began to flip around searching for something to deaden the brain waves before hitting the rack. I found a title, 'The Queen's Gambit Job' that sounded interesting, thinking it may have something to do with chess. It did, unfortunately. The program was LEVERAGE on TNT. The Royal game was featured prominently in the episode. It was hilariously funny! I mean, LOLFOTCROTF FUNNY! (That's: Laughing Out Loud, Falling Off The Couch, Rolling On The Floor)
I have come to not expect much when I see chess depicted on the screen, whether samll or large. I recall an episode of Law & Order Criminal Intent that featured Robert Carridine as a 'chess master' (Season Four, episode 11: entitled 'Gone'). It made me want to cry. It is being shown again on Oxygen, Thursday, Sept 8, at 7 & 11. I will pass. I seem to recall an episode of 'Columbo' that focused on a 'chess master'. Someone mentioned that the 'master' was a cross between Bobby Fischer and Tigran Petrosian, since he was hard of hearing. Missed that one, thankfully.
Someone came to the Atlanta Chess Center and gave free passes to a screening of the movie The Luzin Defense, starring John Turturro and Emily Watson. Naturally, Turturro was out of his mind. Why is it that most, if not all, chess masters depicted on screen are 'crazy'? It used to be that, when you mentioned to someone that you played the Royal game, they would say, "You must be smart!" Now mention chess and they move away from you...
Since it was free, a group of us went to the movie. After the movie ended, thankfully, we walked outside to be met by a group of young people, pen and pad in hand. "What did you think of the movie?" I was asked. "Ridiculous," I answered. "Would you like to elaborate on that?" the pretty young woman asked. "Don't get me started." I was trying to be nice. I will never forget the look on the face of Thad Rogers, owner of the House of Pain and Mr Southern chess for many years, as he came out, hoppin' MAD! I no longer recall exactly what he said, but I will never forget how he said it! I am sure those people regretted asking Thad his opinion. I heard one of our group say, "What a load of CRAP!" I thought he summed it up rather nicely.
A lady named Meredith Jacobs has written a review of 'The Queen's Gambit Job' episode, which you can find here:
http://www.examiner.com/leverage-in-national/leverage-summer-finale-the-queen-s-gambit-job-recap-chess-and-sterling
She pretty much lays it out the way she saw it. She must know little or nothing about the world of chess. It is unfortunate that the vast majority of people know so little about chess, and think what they see on screen depicts "the way it is."
If I were to write a review of the program, I would start by excoriating the writers unmercifully. They must be reasonably intelligent people, but they do not show it with their writing. It would seem that, if someone were going to write a story about a subject, any subject, they knew little about, they would, at the very least, educate themselves first. One would think...
These chowder heads continue to put this pabulum on screen because people watch it. I admit, they suckered me into watching. But hey, I got a BaconLOG post out of it! Maybe if there were enough chess players who started a movement, saying, "We are mad as hell and we are not gonna take it anymore!" they would get the message. Then again, maybe not...

The Fix Is In St Louis

2011-08-24T11:46:00.000-07:00

Much is being written these days concerning the proliferation of draws in chess. For example, on the forum section of the USCF website there are three pages of comments regarding Greg Shahade's article, Greg on Chess: Stop the Draw. (http://main.uschess.org/content/view/11351/639/) There are articles on every major chess website, and minor ones, too. Many different ideas are being proposed. The only one implemented thus far to have been proven to work seems to be the awarding of 3 points for a win and only one point for a draw. As I have written, I would prefer different points for each different result. For example, 1 1/2 points for a draw with White; 2 points for a draw with Black; 3 points for a win with White; and 4 points for a win with Black. This would end the last round 'group hugs' seen at so many large events. It would also reward the unfortunate player who has to play with the Black pieces three times in a five round swiss.
This past weekend at the Missouri State Championship GM Ben Finegold offered a draw to his opponent after 1 e4 c6. His opponent was his son, Spencer. Ben writes about it on his blog, in a post entitled, 'And the winner is...', at the St. Louis Chess & Scholastic Center website. (http://saintlouischessclub.org/news/2011-08-22/and-winner)
Ben writes about the 'game', and I use the term very loosely, "I “played” Spencer in round 4, if you can call 1.e4 c6! draw agreed playing. I thought I pretty much equalized and did not see the point of playing any further." I guess this is his attempt at humor. I seriously doubt if any of the other competitors in contention found it amusing. Ben goes on to write about his last round game, "The last round was a Finegoldesque squeeze as my opponent, Mark Ferber, chose a dubious variation that I used to play." "Finegoldesque squeeze" could be interpeted another way, since Mr. Ferber had three points going into the last round, as did NM Richard Benjamin and Spencer Finegold. While the Finegold family rested after their 'draw' in round four, Mr. Benjamin and Mr. Ferber had to spend that time actually sitting at the board, playing chess. The last round advantage obviously rested with the Finegold's. Thus, the 'squeeze'.
Many years ago IM (of GM strength, something that used to be said about Ben Finegold)Boris Kogan emigrated with his family from what used to be part of the Soviet Union, the 'Evil Empire' according to President Ronald Reagan. He settled in Atlanta and was the strongest chess player in the South. His son, Mike, also played in chess tournaments and was strong enough to become a NM. They met many times in tournaments in Atlanta, and possibly in other tournaments in the South. I cannot recall one instance of Boris giving his son a draw, especially one in which only one move was played! I believe the Legendary Georgia Ironman, Tim Brookshear, and the impresario of Southern chess, Thad Rogers, as well as many others, will attest to that fact. Playing five games over a two days, as it was back then, or even three, beginning Friday night, was tough on Boris, who was a middle-aged man upon coming to Georgia. He could have opted for a quick draw with his son, and some much needed rest, but refused to do so. Consider what happened at the Columbia Open in the Great state of South Carolina this past weekend. GM LUBOMIR FTACNIK lost in the third round Saturday night to ALEXANDER MATROS. Lubomir is 53 years of age now, no longer a spring chicken. In the last round, two much younger players, NM Chris Mabe and the aforementioned Matros agreed to a nine move draw, probably thinking the GM would win and they would tie for first. But ALEXANDER ZELNER, with 3 1/2 points going into the last round, had other ideas. He beat the GM and finished in first place, a half point ahead of 'no guts & no glory' Mabe and Matros.
Bobby Fischer railed against Soviet collusion and his allegations have been proven correct over time, as many former Soviet players have written about how the 'fix was in'. Boris had too much integrity to stoop to such a level. Yet what we have here in St. Louis is an instance of a GM doing the exact same thing Bobby Fischer used to vilipend so vehemently!
Ben Finegold even has the audacity to write at the conclusion of his blog, "An excellent tournament for Spencer, who broke 2100 for the first time." Well, yeah, it is much easier to have "an excellent tournament" when one is able to rest Sunday morning in lieu of working hard at the board! And the rating points come quickly when your GM father donates them to you without playing a game! The Finegold cartel took two of the top prizes at the tournament with their colusion. Why would any strong player want to come to St. Louis and play having to compete with this?
At the beginning of his blog post, GM Finegold writes, "I decided to play at the last possible moment, after my long travels and moving into a new apartment almost dissuaded me from going for the $500 first prize. But, as Tatev Abrahamyan has told me on several occasions, “$500!!” He ends it with, "Tatev was right… $500 feels good!" I realize there is little money in chess, and we are in a depression the establishment calls a 'recession', but is GM Finegold not the Grandmaster in residence at the St. Louis Chess & Scholastic Center? Does he receive a stipend? If so, is it not enough for him to have to resort to collusion with his son to 'earn' an extra $500?
The St. Louis Chess Club also bills itself as a 'Scholastic Center'. Rex Sinquefield, the filthy rich man who has given the money for the place is, from what I have read, justifiably proud of what is happening with regard to scholastic chess in his city. He, and his chess & scholastic center, have won many awards from chess organizations, and no doubt others of which I am not aware. St. Louis is leading the way for the rest of the US as far as chess is concerned, according to what I read online and in foreign chess magazines. Yet, what kind of example is being set in St. Louis? What if, during the fourth round at a scholastic tournament, one young player offers his best friend, rated 500 points lower, a draw after only one move? What happens when you tell the players they cannot do that because it is against the rules of chess, and they fire back with, "GM Finegold and his son do it!"
Rule 14B6 of the USCF Official Rules of Chess is: "Premature or prearranged draws. It is unethical and unsporting to agree to a draw before a serious contest has begun. The same is true of all arrangements to prearrange game results. In case of clear violations of the moral principles of the game, penalties should be imposed at the director's discretion. See also 20L, Manipulating results." It says: "Collusion to fix or throw games, whether before or during the game, in order to manipulate prize money, title norms, ratings, or for any other purpose is illegal and may result in severe sanctions, including revocation of USCF membership. Such agreemants include arrangemants to split prize money no matter what the result of the game."
The TD should have forfeited the Finegold family for their egregious breech of the rules! But, since the GM is the 'big dog', except when Hikaru is around I suppose, and paid by the man with the deep pockets, I can see that it would be rather difficult for a TD to follow the rules. Certainly the pooh-bahs at USCF should take some kind of action, if it is to only vacate the rating result of the so-called 'game' between the Finegolds. The sad fact is that if you put all of the pooh-bahs of USCF together, you will not have enough material for even half a cojones!
When I was in the seventh grade there was a fellow class member named Clifford. He was 16 and still in grammar school, so it is obvious he was not the brighest bulb on the tree. He towered over the rest of us and got his way, since we knew he could put a hurtin' on all of us combined! One day we were outside at recess playing soft-ball when Clifford decided he wanted to play. He grabbed a bat and got in the batter's box and hit the ball over the fence. The next batter stepped up, thinking Clifford would hand him the bat. Clifford let the poor boy now in no uncertain terms that he wanted to hit a few more. "But that ain't the way we play the game," protested the little fella. "It's the way I play the game, squirt." But, as Bob Dylan wrote, "You gotta serve somebody." The principal kicked Clifford out of school and we rejoiced! Is there anyone who will step up to the plate and put an end to the big dogs of chess? Are people so afraid that Rex will stop sinquefielding money into chess that they let him do what ever he pleases? None of the man's largesse has, or will come, my way, so I will speak out. Is there anybody out there in chess land with enough cojones to do the same?

Intrinsic Chess Ratings

2011-08-22T08:21:00.000-07:00

Forbes recently had an article on chess, 'Humans Are Getting Better At Chess - Thanks to Computers' (http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2011/08/10/humans-are-getting-better-at-chess-thanks-to-computers/), written by Alex Knapp. His story begins, "A recent study suggests that there are more great chess players now than there ever have been – and that players continue to improve."
Mr. Knapp throws in a thought of his own when he writes, "The authors don’t suggest a mechanism, but if I were to guess, I’d suggest that the reason for this has to do with competitive chess software and online play." Mr. Knapp thinks that if humans continue to 'interface' with programs, "...it may be that humans catch back up to the best AI programs." I will not live so long...
I clicked on 'recent study' and found a PDF titled, 'Intrinsic Chess Ratings', written by Kenneth W. Regan of the University of Buffalo and Guy McC. Haworth of the University of Reading, UK. This must be the former chess player, IM Ken Regan. I put him into a search engine and found he has a chess page: http://www.cse.buffalo.edu/~regan/chess/ Gotta be the same guy.
The first sentence lays it out: "This paper develops and tests formulas for representing playing strength at chess by the quality of moves played, rather than by the results of games."
I wondered who was to be the ultimate arbiter of "the quality of move played." My question was answered by the next sentence: "Intrinsic quality is estimated via evaluations given by computer chess programs run to high depth, ideally so that their playing strength is sufficiently far ahead of the best human players as to be a 'relatively omniscient' guide.
There it is. We have reached a point in human evolution whereby 'puters have now become our 'relatively omniscient' guides. I could not help but think of the first paragraph of an editorial by Charles M. Blow, 'Obama in the Valley' dated August 19, 2011 (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/20/opinion/blow-obama-in-the-valley.html?_r=1&ref=opinion)
"In 1970, the Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori coined the phrase “uncanny valley.” In the field of robotics, and increasingly in computer animation, it refers to the theory that people feel good about robots — up to a point. When they start to look almost real, but not quite, we experience an eerie and unsettling sense of revulsion."

In the introduction the authors say, "Our work brings new evidence on controversial questions of import to the chess community, with ramifications for skill assessment in other games: 1) Has there been 'inflation'-or deflation-in chess Elo rating system over the past forty years? 2) Were the top players of earlier times as strong as the top players of today? 3) Does a faster time control markedly reduce the quality of play? 4) Can recorded games from tournaments where high results by a player are suspected as fraudulent reveal the extent to which luck or collusion played a role?
The paper, especially page seven, contains a plethora of equations. If you had showed it to me and told me they were equations for a magnetoplasmadynamic propulsion system from aliens from planet Zud, I would have said, "OK". Fortunately, they sum it up by saying, "We conclude that there is a smooth relationship between the actual players' ELO ratings and the intrinsic quality of the move choices as measured by the chess program and the agent fitting." Got that? It continues, "The results also suppost a no answer to question 2. In the 1970's there were only two players with ratings over 2700, namely Bobby Fischer and Anatoly Karpov, and there were years as late as 1981 when no one had a rating over 2700 (see Wee00). In the past decade there have usually been thirty or more players with such ratings. Thus lack of inflation implies that those players are better than all but Fischer and Karpov were. Extrapolated backwards, this would be consistent with the findings of (DHMG07), which however (like some recent competitions to improve on the ELO system)are based only on the results of games, not on intrinsic decision-making."
Whoa! Has the level of chess play risen to the point that ALL 2700+ players of today are better than ALL players of a generation ago other than Bobby Fischer and Anatoly Karpov? That is saying a great deal.
I recall GM Andy Soltis writing a column whereby he went back a century and compared the moves of the greats of that era with the players of today and found that the old masters made more blunders, and, frankly, I would tend to put more credence in what a HUMAN GM has to say than a COMPUTER.
I cannot help but wonder what a computer analysis of USCF ratings would conclude. Has there been inflation, or deflation? Back in the 70's the average ratting of a tournament player in the USCF was around 1500, give or take. (I believe that was where Prof Elo based his 'average') Today the average rating is around 900. I submit to you that the 'average' player of the 70's was vastly superior to the 'average' player of today. Most players knew then that, if a player made class 'B', he had stopped dropping pieces and could play a decent game of chess. In the first round of the 1980 US Open in Atlanta, a class'B' player upset GM John Fedorowicz in the first round. Consider this game played by two players in the top half of all USCF rated players at a G/30 played here in Louisville at the Monday night tournament where the score is not kept and the game is played without a clock. One of the players is my student. I will not say which to protect the guilty... 1 e4 e5 2 d4 f6? 3 d5?! I will spare you the rest...
I tied for first in the Atlanta Championship in 1974 with a score of 4-1 as a class 'B' player. It was said at the time by many that, "We have a 'B' player as champion!" At the time I was playing actively and working on my game, which needed much work, let me tell you! Although an adult, I was one of those players whose rating had not caught up with with his strength. I won the 1976 Atlanta Championship with a score of 5-0 as a low 'A' player. At that time ratings were not as up to date as they are today. One time the rating system went down for almost a year. There usd to be something called 'bonus points', then they were elimanated. I recall crossing the expert line, 2000, during a time of no bonus points, and my friend, the Legendary Georgia Ironman, Tim Brookshear, took the time to figure what my rating would have been if the bonus points were still being awarded. He came to the conclusion I would have obtained a rating of over 2100. "And you did this while swimming against the tide!" he said. I mention this to give some perspective and to say that, as good as I was, I was nowhere near the level of the top players of today, such as Georgia champions NM Richard Francisco, NM Damir Studen, and FM Kazim Gulamali. At that time I was maybe 500 or 600 points higher rated than the 'average' player. A player today rated 500 or 600 points higher than the 'average' USCF player would be rated 1400 or 1500! What does that say about the current rating pool?

Columbia Open

2011-08-21T14:36:00.000-07:00

There is a chess tournament being held this weekend in the city of Columbia, in the Great state of South Carolina. You can read all about it here: http://www.scchess.org/
GM Ftacnik is playing in the event as he has for several years now. Checking the crosstable I did not see the Legendary Georgia Ironman. Two years in a row Tim was paired with the GM in the very first round.
The site says: Representatives from Monroi are at the tournament and are also broadcasting some of the games live at: Monroi
Earlier today I went to www.monroi.com and found this position: W) Kg5; Rb7, Rf6; P's a5,c4,d3,e4,f2
B) Kg3;Qg4; P's a6,c5,e5
The last move according to the yellow boxes on the diagram was White playing e2-e4. The game was between Zelner, David & White, Laurence
The game ended 1-0! That's right folks, White WON! At least according to Monroi...So I clicked on the scoresheet, which is actually the best feacture of Monroi. Not this time, unfortunately. I noticed question marks where moves should have been and clicked off. Monroi has been around for YEARS! Seems they would have corrected the problems by now. Anyone know how to get in touch with the DeBugger Busters?
The top two boards are being broadcast live. They must not read Chessbase down in South Carolina! Although one can click on 'standings', the only round posted is the first one, so I have no idea how the tournament is going. How about this for a last round game. IM Alexander Matros() vs LM Chris Mabe() 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Bf4 dxc4 4.e3 b5 5.a4 Nf6 6.Nc3 b4 7.Nb1 Ba6 8.Nf3 Nd5 9.Be2 1/2-1/2
Proving you do not have to be a Grandmaster to make a GM draw!

Feng Shui Chess

2011-08-21T09:02:00.001-07:00

GM Nigel Davies in his online column The Chess Improver writes on the most esoteric subjects. His latest is: The Feng Shui Of Competitive Chess. (http://chessimprover.com/?p=1061).
It brought back memories of the jockeying for postion at the Atlanta Chess Center, aka, the House of Pain. In the upstairs room where the top players played the preferred position was all the way to the right with your back to the wall. One time David Vest, aka the High Plains Drifter, arrived early one Sunday morning and staked out his claim. "There's no place I'd rather be than on board one in round four with my back to the wall!" he said, grinning. It was more than a little obvious that the Drifter felt most comfortable there.
I played in a tournament upon first moving to Louisville, which I wrote about on the BaconLOG, posted Wednesday, November 11,2009. (http://baconlog.blogspot.com/2009/11/louisville-chess.html)
I never felt 'comfortable' at that event. Read the post and you will understand why. I recall asking the TD, Alan Priest, who is now on the policy board of the USCF, if I could move closer to the window, since there was very little light emanating due to a power failure. He brusquely walked over to where my opponent and I were to play and grabbed the table, and moved it toward the window. The table was now out of line with every other table and when anyone needed to walk by our table, they would have to make a special effort to avoid it. Some were unable to negotiate the gauntlet and would bump into the table. This happened all during the game. Although I wanted to bring it to the TD's attention, I decided against it and decided to 'suck it up'. It could be because, upon learning the power was partially out, I had asked the TD if and when the lights would be coming on full strength. He said he had no idea if they would come back on, so I mentioned that I may not play. "What?", he asked, "Are you some kind of complainer?" Can I be blamed for staying put?
I had a beer with Ron Gross at the US Senior in 2002. After seeing the inadequate lighting, he had decided to not participate. Much easier to do when one lives in the state. I was from 2500 miles away and decided to play, much to my regret.

The Results Are In

2011-08-20T08:49:00.000-07:00

Annual Chess Journalists of America Awards: Winners are in (http://main.uschess.org/content/view/11355/639/)
The BaconLOG did not win, I am sad to report...
The winners are: Best Chess Blog Award
brokenpawn1.blogspot.com
Broken Pawn
By Robert Keating

Best Chess Blog Runner-up
Chessvine.com
By Anton Taylor

There is, as of this writing, one comment to the article, which I give in full: Post: #221059 by HankAnzis on Fri Aug 19, 2011 8:12 pm

Broken Pawn is written by Hank Anzis
...losing my 15 minutes of fame...

http://brokenpawn1.blogspot.com

Poor Hank...This is to let you know that I will spend some time reading your award winning blog, sir! So many blogs-so little time...

One of the things I like about these awards is that I am introduced to new writers and articles. The winner of CJA Best Historical Article Award
is: A Forgotten Chess Tale: Hapley's Project
By Yasser Seirawan
appeared in Northwest Chess (November 2010)

So I went to the Northwest Chess website in order to print out the winning article only to find this: November
NWC_201011_opt.pdf (All pages except Seirawan story)
Cover photo:
Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan by Jeroen van den Belt

That's right, you can print out everything BUT the award winning article by GM Seirawan! Go figure...

Congratulations to Mark Taylor, editor of the still AWARD WINNING GEORGIA CHESS MAGAZINE!
CJA Best State Magazine/Newsletter Award
Georgia Chess
edited by Mark N. Taylor

CJA Best State Magazine/Newsletter Co-Runner-up
Chess Horizons
edited by Robert D. Messenger

CJA Best State Magazine/Newsletter Co-Runner-up
Northwest Chess
edited by Ralph Dubisch

Unforgivable Insult To Bobby Fischer!

2011-08-19T14:25:00.000-07:00

A writer named James Fallows has written a piece for the Atlantic magazine entitled, Obama as Chess Master: 'Think of Him as Bobby Fischer'
(http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/08/obama-as-chess-master-think-of-him-as-bobby-fischer/243139/)
This is a blatant insult to the departed World Champion!
There is a picture of the man who wrote the article on the webpage given above with the following: "James Fallows - James Fallows is a national correspondent for The Atlantic and has written for the magazine since the late 1970s. He has reported extensively from outside the United States, and once worked as President Carter's chief speechwriter."
Mr. Fallows obviously knows very little about chess and even less about the greatest chess player of all time, Bobby Fischer!
I hereby call on this ignoramus to retract 'Bobby Fischer' from the title and to apologize IMMEDIATELY to all chess players, not only living, but to those players who respected Bobby Fischer and have now 'left the board' as well.

Sebastien Feller's Story and More Cheating Allegations

2011-08-19T11:09:00.000-07:00

On the same day the young French GM, Sebastien Feller, 'convicted' of cheating recently, gives an interview to WhyChess (http://www.whychess.org/node/571), we learn, also from WhyChess, that there is 'Something fishy at the Botvinnik Open'. (http://www.whychess.org/en/node/1455)
It seems a player rated all of 1698 has three wins, two draws, and only one loss against players rated hundreds of points higher. Could he be having the tournament of his life?
From the article: "Yes, a certain Sergey Klimentiev, rated 1698, seems to be doing rather well. Is he perhaps a youngster whose rating hasn’t caught up with his talent? No, it seems not, as he was born in 1969. The RCF website continues:

He’s already beaten a series of FIDE Master level players, crushed IM Alexsej Lanin and drawn with IM Ivan Rozum. Players and organisers claim that after an encounter Klimentiev is unable to show or recall the moves from the game he’s played. The tournament continues, and today the St. Petersburg player is up against the Ukrainian Anatoliy Polivanov.

In the comments under the news item it’s pointed out that Klimentiev doesn’t even know the names of the openings. Up to this point you might be tempted, as I am, to side with the amateur player – is it really so unusual not to be able to recall the moves of your game or the names of the openings?! Perhaps he’s just having the tournament of his life? But the opening moves of the game he played as Black against Polivanov (on stage, with spectator access restricted) do seem to suggest he might have been performing somewhat above his ability level: 1. e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.Nxf7 Bg4?? 7.Nxd8 ("an alternative was 7.Qxg4")...

The fact that Klimentiev is still playing in the event is likely to lead to more debate about how we can deal with suspected cheating when the alleged culprit isn't caught red-handed."
It will never end now that the genie is out of the bottle.

Korchnoi wins Botvinnik Memorial Veterans

2011-08-19T10:59:00.000-07:00

The veterans event held August 15-19 in Suzdal-Vladimir Oblast, Russia, with legendary players from the era of the 6th World Champion. It was a 10-player, single round robin rapid tournament with 25 minutes + 10 seconds increment on the clock.
Viktor Korchnoi won the Botvinnik Memorial Veterans rapid tournament in Suzdal-Vladimir Oblast, Russia. The 80-year-old grandmaster finished on 7/9, a full point ahead of Evgeni Vasiukov. The rest of the field included many legends: Lajos Portisch, Borislav Ivkov, Igor Zaitsev, Aleksandar Nikitin, Wolfgang Uhlmann, Oleg Chernikov, Anatoly Bykhovsky and Mark Taimanov.
This is taken from: http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/korchnoi-wins-botvinnik-memorial-veterans/#more-41647
The excellent article on the Chess Vibes website also contains 25 games from the tournament.

Does USCF Have A Marketing Department?

2011-08-17T14:18:00.000-07:00

While eating lunch and watching the tube I flipped over from golf to the NASCAR race, and then during a commercial to CNN and who did I see but a former chessplayer, Grandmaster Ken Rogoff. With the recent economic turmoil he is everywhere. I recently watched a documentary on the meltdown of 2008 and he was interviewed in it. I read an article in the Thursday, August 12 New York Times, 'Sometimes, Inflation Is Not Evil', by Floyd Norris (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/12/business/sometimes-inflation-is-not-evil.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=sometimes%20inlation%20is%20not%20an%20evil&st=cse), and there was a picture of the GM. From the article: In a column in The Financial Times this week, Ken Rogoff, the Harvard economist, suggested central bankers consider “the option of trying to achieve some modest deleveraging through moderate inflation of, say, 4 to 6 percent for several years.”

Mr. Rogoff conceded that “any inflation above 2 percent may seem anathema to those who still remember the anti-inflation wars of the 1970s and 1980s.”
He's in the Financial Times, and many other publications. Like I said, he is EVERYWHERE!
The USCF marketing department is missing the marketing opportunity of a lifetime! Then I wondered, "Does the USCF even have a marketing department?" So I went to the latest issue of CHESS LIFE and looked on page 2, and could find no 'marketing' whatsoever. Seems they would have a marketing department...
Ali Velshi, the Chief Business Correspondent, was interviewing business types. Now imagine if the Grandmaster were wearing a USCF hat, and maybe a USCF patch, ala NASCAR drivers. He could wear a USCF tie for good measure. The marketing department could pay Mr. Rogoff to wear them everytime he is 'on camera'.
The interview could have gone something like this.
Ali Velshi: "Ken, what do you think of the markets now?"
Ken Rogoff: "This turmoil is CRAZY!" (Actual word used by Mr Rogoff)
Ali Velshi: "What do you think could be done?"
Ken Rogoff: "Well, Ali, they are calling it a recession, but I've always heard a recession is when your neighbor is out of work; but a depression is when you are out of work! While you and I consider what we are now in a recession, for fourty or so million Americans, it can only be described as a depression, because being out of work is depressing."
Ali Velshi: "What do you propose we do about it?"
Ken Rogoff: "Join the United States Chess Federation!"
Ali Velshi: "Ken, I see you are wearing a USCF hat, tie, lapel pin, and patch on your blazer. How do you think joining that organization can help?"
Ken Rogoff: "Ali, the people have a great deal of time on their hands now. With no job, resentment builds until they are out in the streets, joining a 'flash mob', creating havoc for the establishment. They are fomenting dissension and anarchy. The anger and agression they feel could be better channeled toward their opponent sitting across the board! Chess is a wonderful teaching tool, as shown by numerous studies. Students who study the Royal game of chess have been shown to improve in other areas as well. Parents could become involved and also learn the game, giving them a constructive way to play and learn with their children. And chess does not cost much, compared to other endeavors. After the revolution the USSR showed what chess can do for a society for little money."
Ali Velshi: "Well, um...yes...but...look what happened to the USSR."
Ken Rogoff: "Well, there is that."
Ali Velshi: "Ken, I understand you became a chess Grandmaster at a young age, then gave up the game. Why?"
Ken Rogoff: "Well, Ali, I realized there is very little money in chess and decided to go back to school and make a career for myself; some way to be able to actually feed my family. If I had stayed with chess, I would have had to wander the globe like some kind of mendicant."
Ali Velshi: "With that said, you would still advocate a youngster take up the game of chess?"
Ken Rogoff: "Certainly! After a few years involved with chess, they too would see that they are walking down a dead end street and realize how imperative it is for them to go to school and study hard in order to obtain an education and become a pillar of the establishment, like you and I, Ali."
Ali Velshi: "Sounds great, Ken! How do the people watching get in touch with the USCF?"
Ken Rogoff: "They can go to www.uschess.org."
Ali Velshi: "What if they cannot afford a computer, Ken."
Ken Rogoff: "They can call the USCF at their 800 number."
Ali Velshi: "What if they cannot afford a phone, Ken?"
Ken Rogoff: " I thought EVERYONE had a cellphone. I happen to have a chess magazine right here with me, Ali. Let me take a moment to find the address for the USCF. Uh-oh, I have the best chess magazine in the world with me, New in Chess."
Ali Velshi: "You mean the USCF magazine is NOT the best chess magazine in the world?"
Ken Rogoff: "I'm afraid not, Ali. I don't usually carry it with me. I leave it in the 'reading room."
Ali Velshi: "The reading room?"
Ken Rogoff: "Yes, Ali. You know-the 'reading room'. It has become the kind of magazine one glances at while sitting for a short time."
Ali Velshi: "Ah, yes. The 'READING ROOM'. I get your drift, Ken. I'm sure the viewers will be able to find that information on their own with a concerted effort. Thank you very much, Grandmaster!"
Richard Quest: "Hey, I'm on this panel, too!"
Ali Velshi: "Richard, do you now, or have you ever played chess?"
Richard Quest: "Uh, well, uh no."
Ali Velshi: "Thank you for your input, Richard! After the break we will discuss just how many more people will have to lose their jobs for the establishment to acknowledge that we are, in fact, in a depression, and start calling it what everyone knows it has, in fact, become."

Return of Return To Forever!

2011-08-16T14:34:00.000-07:00

There it was on page c7 of the Monday, August 15 New York Times: Jazz Fusion Heroes of the 1970s Resurrect Their Intricate Dynamics
By JON PARELES
Return to Forever, the jazz-fusion ensemble, featuring two of its founding members, Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke, played Friday night at the Beacon Theater.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/15/arts/music/return-to-forever-iv-at-the-beacon-theater-review.html?_r=1&ref=music

I sat there looking at the quarter page picture not believing my eyes. Jean-Luc Ponty and his violin between Chic & Stanley. JEAN-LUC PONTY! Added to Lenny White, the drummer, and the rest of the group. LIFE AIN'T SO BAD!
The new guitarist is Frank Gambale, and I will admit he is new to me. The article says, "Mr. Gambale is noted in guitar circles for his technique called sweep picking — playing fast passagework while strumming across the guitar strings instead of stopping to pick one string at a time — and he had plenty of speed at his disposal. He joined in neatly on the unison lines that were landmarks in the compositions, and he often soloed with high, wailing, bluesy lines followed by shredder arpeggios down below." Yeah!
My all-time favorite disc is The Romantic Warrior. It is the kind of album that if one happened to find himself on death row and could listen to just one disc before being strapped in, it would be my choice! From www.allmusic.com: "Romantic Warrior, a concept album on medieval themes, was the first Return to Forever album not to be co-billed to Corea on the original LP. Released in March 1976, it became the band's third consecutive Top 40 hit and went on to become its biggest seller, eventually earning a gold record."
It was called 'rock-fusion' back then, and took music in a different direction. While listening one is magically transported to an ethereal realm of fusion bliss...It is simply a wonderful fatasia of sound.
Those damned yankees are so lucky to have the opportunity to live in a city where great musical things happen with regularity. One of the good things about continuing one's existence is that one can be surprised, and amazed, about something like this happening. I only hope I am still around when the new disc appears!

Blitz is for Punks!

2011-08-13T09:18:00.000-07:00

GM Yasser Seirawan has written a wonderful essay on blitz chess in two parts on the new WhyChess website. Part one is titled 'Why Blitz?' Both parts can be found at: http://www.whychess.org/blogs/yasser.seirawan
It is very worthwhile reading. This is my favorite paragraph:
"The image that the volunteers and sponsors of our chess world try to cultivate is one of a fine orchestra in a concert hall playing soaring music which lifts the audience into glorious rapture. By comparison Blitz is a raucous free-for-all more akin to a punk-rock band in a shady tavern. The “powers that be” have therefore frowned upon Blitz. Blitz is for punks! Real chess requires thoughtful contemplation."
It is obvious Yasser believes in blitz chess. He laments the fact that there are so few blitz tournaments, and no ratings. I recall GM Walter Browne had a blitz asociation, with ratings, at one time. It could be that it will take a world class player to become the driving force behind a world wide blitz organization.
I remember a blitz tournament at the very first Land of the Sky tournament, promoted by Wilder Wadford for the past two plus decades in Asheville, North Carolina. I recall it because I remember Jeff 'Captain' Kidd coming up from Atlanta to play only in the blitz tournament. The Captain had also brought along a very lovely young lady for the weekend because the tournament was held in the Grove Park Inn, a place IM Karl Burger said was, "The most opulent place I have ever played." It was a great place to impress a pretty lady, too!
I have never been good at blitz chess and I believe it is because I came to the game as an adult. I say that after spending years working at the House of Pain, watching players of all ages play speed chess. The younger players would improve by leaps and bounds, but the older players rarely improved. They made the same mistakes over and over again. They played as if addicted. I asked a few of them why they did not spend some time trying to improve their game. "You can't improve at speed," said one. "You gotta go with what you got!" Another one said he had thought about it, but, after working all day, he preferred coming to the House to play and to hang out with his buddies, rather than going home alone. Mumtaz Yusef, the father of FM Kazim Gulamali, loved playing speed chess. He would bring his son to the House on Saturday night and order pizza, or Oriental food for the House and they would play all night. (And I must mention here the poem by Dennis Fritzinger titled, pizza and blitz, in the new edition of the Mechanic's Institute Newsletter #546-http://www.chessclub.org/news.php) Kazim has continued to improve to the point that he beat GM Becerra in one of the faster time limit games during this year's US Open and drew with GM Hikaru Nakamura in the first real, classical game the 'speed demons' played in round seven! Kazim, who was called the 'Little Grandmaster' at the House back in those days, finished with 6 1/2 points in the US Open, to finish tied for 14th place, along with another member of the House, NM Damir Studen. Every strong player needs a foundation and I cannot help but believe they became such strong players because they had a House. Both of them 'cut their teeth' on blitz at the House of Pain!
Unless one is a Bobby Fischer, able to recall a speed game after two decades, blitz games are really 'throw-away' games. After all these years I can only recall two speed games. The first was against the Spanish Mackeral, Antonio Angel. He came into Atlanta with his 'space odyssey' rating of 2001. At that time there were only a few players rated expert and maybe one non-playing master, so a rating of 2000+ seemed strong to us. Antonio was taking on all comers at the Decatur (the city in which I was born) chess club, and beating them all. It came my turn and he played a Pirc. I mated him on g7 as I recall. The Spanish Mackeral was not happy about it, let me tell you! It subsequently caused some real bad blood between us later on...
Then there was the speed game with GM Raymond Keene at the FIDE congress in Atlanta in 1980. Raymond was nice enough to sit down and play anyone who wanted to play, and he sat there for hours drubbin' us patzers. I sat down and played 1 e4, and Raymond played d6, so I fired out 2 d4, and he brought his Knight out to f6. I played mine to c3 and he played 3...g6. We were in book. I planned on playing like Karpov, so I played 4 g3, which was met immediately with 4...Bg4! Ouch! "So that's why you must play Nge2 before playing g3", I thought. "That's the kinda thing you oughta know before sitting down versus a Grandmaster, chumpy-lumpy," I thought. After such a weak move, it did not take the GM long to polish me off...

Playing Chess Can Be Dangerous

2011-08-13T08:49:00.000-07:00

Stabbing erupts at Chuy’s restaurant in Phoenix after game of chess
•By: Katrina Schaefer

PHOENIX - Two people were stabbed at north Phoenix restaurant late Thursday after police say a person got mad over a game of chess.
The stabbing was reported around 11 p.m. at the Chuy's restaurant near 7th Street and Greenway Parkway.
Officers at the scene said two people were playing a game, but when one person won the game the other person got mad and stabbed the winner twice.
The victim’s friend jumped in to help and was also reportedly stabbed in the upper torso.
http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_phoenix_metro/north_phoenix/police:-stabbing-erupts-at-chuy’s-restaurant-in-phoenix-after-game-of-chess

How Hot Is It?

2011-08-12T14:55:00.001-07:00

After suffering most of the summer with above average temperatures and extremely high humidity, a front from the north has brought cooler temps and a much lower dew point, thankfully. Everywhere you go people are asking why it's so hot. I love the look on the face of those people, especially the young ones, when I tell them I heard a scientist on Coast to Coast AM after the gulf oil spill say that oil was not the only thing released, but also methane gas. "He said that the last time this much methane was released into the atmosphere, the dinosaurs went extinct!" A frightened, big-eyed, morbid look comes over them.

I learned recently the temperature is taken in the shade, which means when one is in the sun it could feel like it is 10 or 15 degrees hotter. Then there is something called the 'heat index'. That's when the weatherman says the temperature is 95 but it 'feels like' it's 105. Come on now...if it 'feels like' it's 105, then why don't they say it's 105?!

One day during the hot spell, Louisville led the nation in 'heat index' at 116. The 'heat index' was in the yelow color-coded 'opressive' range.

When I was young I liked to walk up the hill to my grandmother's house. It was a duplex and her niece and husband lived there as well. Ed would usually be on the front porch, chewin' and spittin' tobacco; maybe drinking a beer. There would be other fella's there, shootin' the bull. I think I liked it because, although still quite young, I was allowed to 'hang-out' with the menfolk. They would talk about all kinds of men type things, like their favorite NASCAR drivers.

From the time I heard his name, I liked 'Fireball' Roberts. Sounded like a good driver to me! How was I to know he would actually go up in flames, losing his life in a fireball? From Wikipedia:

On May 24, 1964, at the World 600 in Charlotte, Roberts had qualified in the eleventh position and started in the middle of the pack. On lap 7, Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson collided and spun out and Roberts crashed trying to avoid them. Roberts' Ford slammed backward into the inside retaining wall, flipped over and burst into flames. Witnesses at the track claimed they heard Roberts screaming, "Ned, help me!" from inside his burning car after the wreck. Jarrett rushed to save Roberts as his car was engulfed by the flames. Roberts suffered second- and third-degree burns over 80 percent of his body and was airlifted to a hospital in critical condition. Although it was widely believed that Roberts had an allergic reaction to flame-retardant chemicals, he was secretly an asthmatic and the chemicals made his breathing worse.[2]

Roberts was able to survive for several weeks, and it appeared he might pull through. But Roberts' health took a turn for the worse on June 30, 1964. He contracted pneumonia and sepsis and slipped into a coma by the next day. He died on July 2, 1964.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fireball_Roberts

I was 13 when Fireball went to the big one in the sky, and sorta lost interest in racing thereafter...

It was hot that summer, but the young do not experience the heat the same way the old do, as I now know only too well. I recall cousin Carl asking Ed, "How hot do you think it is?" Ed spit and said, "It's hot'ern HELL!"

Daniel Cooley Uggla

2011-08-11T11:34:00.000-07:00

Dan Uggla, second baseman of the Atlanta Braves, has now hit in 31 straight games. He has tied the 'Beeg Boy', Rico Carty, for the Atlanta Braves record. The franchise record is held by Tommy Holmes at 37.
A long hitting streak is a very difficult thing to do. Ask Pete Rose. I was watching the game when Pete was held hitless on August 1, 1978. The Braves won 16-4, with lefty Larry McWilliams getting his third win. Gene Garber came on to pick-up his 16th save by hurling the last three innings.
I had always appreciated Pete's hustle because it was the way I played the game. It sickened me to hear him after being held hitless by the Braves pitchers. He blasted them for not challenging him with any fastballs. The thing is, Garber's best pitch was a change-up, so he had actually 'challenged' Pete with his best. The simple fact is that Pete could not hit it. It was not just what Pete said, but how he said it that sticks with me after all these years. He sounded like a petulant child; a cry-baby. I lost all respect for the man that night.
Last night on BBTN the streak was discussed. I learned that 80+% of hitters who have hit in 29 games go on to hit in 30, but that only 55+% of batters who have hit in 30 go on to make it 31. "What about from 31 to 32?" asked Orel Hershiser. The announcer said something about not having the number, saving it for tomorrow (tonight's) show. "I want to know NOW!" said Orel. Although it made me laugh, I was in agreement with him.
Bobby Valentine called Rico Carty the 'Big Man'. I think he must've confused the Beeg Boy with the recently deceased Clarence 'Big Man' Clemmons. I forgive Bobby V because I like him very much. He is astute when it comes to the game of baseball.
The Beeg Boy was my friend Tim Brookshear's favorite Brave. We actually met him at a sports memorabilia show. I had purchased a table-top baseball game, Pursue The Pennant, to give to my nephew. Naturally Tim and I had to try it out. I let Tim have the 1969 Braves and I took the Mets. I'll never forget the end of the game as long as I live. It was the bottom of the ninth with the Mets (me) clinging to a one run lead. I had brought on Tug McGraw to finish off the Braves. There was a man on when Rico Carty came to the plate. "Come on Rico," said Tim, "Show why you're called the Beeg Boy!"
Tim picked up the dice and shook them in his hand like he was shooting craps. I will never forget the look on his face when the number landed in 'Home Run' territory. "Shit," I said. "I don't believe it, Bacon. Is it a home run?" It was, indeed. Tim came up offa the couch gesticulating wildly, like he was at Atlanta-Fulton County stadium. "Braves win! Braves WIN! BRAVES WIN!" he yelled. (Skip Carey had nothing on Tim in 1991) It may have been the happiest moment of his life...
It is terribly difficult for Dan Uggla to have done what he has for the simple reason that he strikes out a great deal of the time. He is striking out over 25% of his at-bats. On average a player gets to bat 4 times a game, which means that Uggla has to get a hit in one of the other 3 times at the plate. He has raised his batting average from .173 to .224 during the streak, which is phenomenal. His WAR (Wins Above Replacement) stands at a +0.2, so that, because of the streak, he has become a little better than a replacement player.
I have been a fan of the game for over fifty years now and I cannot recall when a player has so completely turned it around in the middle of a season. There have been players who have come back from a bad year, but this may be unprecedented in the history of baseball. I will admit that if anyone had offered me a wager that Mr Uggla would compile a streak of this magnitude, I would've bet the farm!

GENUINELY

2011-08-10T15:00:00.000-07:00

So there I was last night in bed awaiting nod heaven, but it would just not come...My mind was racing as I wondered if anyone genuinely gives a crap about what I think. It was then I thought of an old song by the group Chicago-"Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" Does anyone really care?, I thought.
I contemplating discontinuing the BaconLOG when another song popped in my head-"Just Give Me Some Kind of Sign" by Brenton Woods.
Everyone has thoughts; not everyone writes them for anyone in the world to share. The conservatives in this country want to balance the budget without asking the most wealthy, the ones who have made out like bandits during the Bushwhacking years, to pay an increased tax. They would prefer to cut the amount of money going to the most needy, the ones who can least afford the reduction. The conservatives in Great Britain did just that, and look at the result. Turn on the tube and watch the BBC World News; or turn on your radio and listen to the carnage. Issac Newton is being proven correct. The battle of ideas was won, and someone has lost.
I went to my BaconLOG page and noticed a fourth comment had been left on my post of August 8, 2102 US Open Weekend. The next day, August 9, 2011 at 3:57 PM, Anonymous said...
"is there anyone who really, GENUINELY, gives a crap what Mike Bacon thinks about ANYTHING?"

In the last month, 887 people from dozens of countries have viewed the BaconLOG, yet very few take the time and go to the trouble to leave a comment, especially one asking a genuinely existential question such as this. "There it is!", I thought. "The sign for which I was looking."
Thank you, anonymous one, for taking the time to not only ask the question, but to write it down and put in cyberspace. Now I KNOW there is ONE person out there! And if you can reach one person, you can reach the world!

Real Reason Aliens Have Come To Earth

2011-08-10T09:06:00.001-07:00

http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/news/headlines/9179153.Pipe_smoking_alien_crop_circle_attracts_tourists/

2012 US Open Weekend

2011-08-08T11:35:00.000-07:00

A confidential source reports from the recently completed 2011 US Open that the politburo pooh-bahs of the USCF have decided, in a closed door session, after seeing the number of players who chose the faster games and shorter schedules (less than 1/3 of the players opted for the 'traditional' schedule), and the number of players who availed themselves of the last round reward of a half-point for not playing, to make major changes to next year's US Open.
The good news is that they intend on going back to a 12 round tournament. The bad news is that the format will be 6 rounds played at a time control of G/60, 3 games to be played on Friday and 3 on Saturday, then 6 games to be contested at a time limit of G/30 on Sunday.
"The thinking is this will cut down on the hotel expense considerably," said the source. He added, "They really want to 'head 'em up & move 'em out!"

Last Round Half-Point Bye-Bye

2011-08-07T15:05:00.000-07:00

This from the USCF website: With just one round to go at the 112th US Open in Orlando (July 30-August 7), three GMs share the lead with 7/8: US #1 and World Top ten player Hikaru Nakamura, current Samford Scholar Aleksandr Lenderman and Alonso Zapata. The final round begins at 3 PM EST with Lenderman facing Nakamura on board one. Zapata took a final round half point bye, so he finished with 7.5/9. (http://main.uschess.org/content/view/11336/639/)

The tied for first GM was not the only one, as clearly 10% of the field opted to NOT play in the final round!

I am hoping, no doubt along with the GM, for both players playing on first board in the last round to be disqualified. Maybe if a player actually wins what used to be a 'major' tournament by being given something for nothing, then the F.I.P.s in USCF will finally see the lunacy in allowing a half-point bye in the last round.

I am reminded of the time over a century ago now, when Joe Golf took a bye in the last round of the PGA championship. When asked why he had decided to not play and take a par score for the last round, Joe said, "My knee is acting up, which means it's gonna rain."

"But Joe, there's not a cloud in the sky and the forecast is for sunny skies all weekend," was what they said to ol' Joe, as they began to snicker. When Joe said, "My knee says it's gonna rain, and rain hard," they began to guffaw.

Ol' Joe shot a ten under 62 on the opening day to set a course record. He could only shoot par golf of 72 over the next two days, attributing it to his balky knee, which caused much laughter. Heading into the last round, Joe was tied for the lead with the two best golfers in America. There was not a cloud in the sky when Joe was asked, "Don't you wish you could go out and try to shoot a lower score?" He just smiled, saying, "I'm satisfied with what I got."

As the first golfer stepped up to the tee on the first hole, the skies grew dark. By the time the two leaders came to the first tee, it was raining hard, coming down in buckets. When they reached the turn, it was what could only be described as a monsoon! No one who teed it up that day shot par, so Ol' Joe Golf won the Championship with his 'half-point' bye. It was then the pooh-bahs of the PGA realized, in their wisdom, the folly of allowing a player to be rewarded by not playing on the final day.

Could there be a lesson here for the pooh-bahs of the USCF?

Thoughts On 2011 US Senior

2011-08-05T11:31:00.000-07:00

Checking the crosstable of the recently completed 2011 US Senior on the USCF website (http://main.uschess.org/component/option,com_wrapper/Itemid,181/) one finds a total of 74 players, an increase from the usual average of around 50. For comparison purposes, there is a Senior tournament at the 98th British Championships 2011 being contested at Sheffield ENG as I write. There were a total of 44 players at the start of play. (http://www.britishchess2011.com/events_senior_2011.htm)
The total at this years US Senior sounds good, until you realize 1/3 of them were 'drop-ins'. If you go to this page, (http://www.active.com/more-sports/houston-tx/us-senior-chess-championship-2011) you will find a list of pre-entries. There are a total of 70 pre-entries. I assume 4 more must have entered late. I have no way of knowing...When the announcement for this tournament was first posted, there was no way to 'drop-in'. Later, a '3-day' schedule was added. The tournament was a 6-day event, beginning Monday, July 18, 2011, and ending Saturday, July 23. 50 players began play on Monday evening in what has now come to be known as a 'traditional' schedule. They played all 6 games at a time control of 40/2, SD/1, which is a 6 hour game. In other words, REAL CHESS!
The 3-day players 'dropped-in' Thursday, July 21, playing 3 games at a time control of G/60 before 'merging' with the 'REAL' players that evening. That many games proved to be too much for any of the parachute pants as numerous half-point byes were taken by those who had 'dropped-in'.
If one checks the crosstable on the USCF website (http://main.uschess.org/component/option,com_wrapper/Itemid,181/) he will find that it was diected by the organizer, FRANCISCO L GUADALUPE (12421314). One will also learn that the tournament was: 6 Rounds, 74 Players; K Factor: F Rating Sys: R Tnmt Type: S
Time Control: 40/120, SD/60. What all those games played at G/1? In the future anyone looking at the crosstable will assume ALL games were played at the given time control! The USCF could make some provision for the historical truth, but do not, for their own reasons. Are they ashamed? Do they mislead historians intentionally? What USCF gives is only a partial truth. It is, therefore, a partial lie. A partial lie is, nevertheless, a LIE! Try, for example, telling the judge at a Grand Jury hearing that you only told a 'partial' lie. Good luck with that!
Sergey Kudrin, the only Grandmaster, won the event with 5 1/2 points. There was a three way tie for third between Tom Braunlich, Larry Englebretson, and Yefim Treger. The former played the 6-day schedule and the latter two opted to 'drop-in'. Treger played 6 games, but that was too much for Larry, who took a half-point bye after playing 3 one-hour games, and then took another one the next night! Larry only played 4 games, and only ONE was at the 'traditional' schedule! Poor Tom...Imagine playing for first place in the last round and seeing a player also playing for first place whom you had not seen all week because he played his three games before you got to the playing hall a couple of days previous and did not play in the penultimate round! "Who is this masked man?" you might ask yourself...Or maybe, "Who is this RINGER?!"
Now imagine a fellow named Joe Golf entering the PGA Senior championship, playing round one and scoring a ten under par 62. He then takes two 'half-point' byes, and is scored with a par 72 in each. He would tee it up for the start of play in the last round with a chance to take first place. "That would NEVER happen!", you say. Of course not! Then why is it allowed in chess?
The pooh-bahs at USCF will, no doubt, give some kind of award, possibly 'Organizer of the Year', to the organizer/director of the 2011 US Senior for perpetrating this travesty upon Seniors. They are so short-sighted they can only see 'numbers'. They are so dense they simply cannot understand that there are many more important things than 'numbers' when it comes to a good Senior tournament.

What Would Rex Sinquefield Think?

2011-08-01T08:52:00.000-07:00

In a post on the new website WhyChess by willy.iclicki, titled, Was Campomanes a KGB agent? (http://www.whychess.org/en/node/944), he writes, "Of course, there’s not enough money in chess, but then you’ll always find a couple of suckers to throw a few million dollars into chess before it disappears."
I could not help but wonder what Rex Sinquefield, the wealthy patron who put up the money to open the beautiful St. Louis Chess & Scholastic Center, and has now funded the new chess Hall of Fame across the street from the SLC&SC, which is to open next month, would think about what willy has written...

The Chess Tournament From HELL!

2011-07-29T12:42:00.000-07:00

After mentioning Walter High's new blog on the NCCA website, I received an email telling me to go to the site and read the post on the LPO on the forum, which I did. The first post, by 'blitzchampion' set the tone. "In my 10+ yrs in playing tournament chess, i've had my fair share of bad tournaments, horrible playing conditions, etc. This was by far, one of the worse tournament experiences i've ever had!"
The next post, by 'upandcoming' begins, "Right on target, Josh. As a parent who forked over $100.00 for his son to play in this tournament I expected much better. Instead what I got were reports of kids screaming running up and down the hall, loudness from the pool last night that were terrible distractions during the games, and then today a final round loss when, at the point of being a pawn ahead, loud jukebox music and the sounds of partying from the lounge RIGHT BESIDE the tournament room blew away the focus and concentration necessary for the win."
It gets worse, much worse. The next one, by 'ThrillerFan' begins, "Speaking as one from the Open section, I saw many problems with the LPO this year as well:

1) The swealtering heat in the Open/U2200/U2000 sections. The best room in the hotel was guess where? The book room, where the organizer sat. Figures!
2) The noise in Round 2 - and I hear it was worse practically every round in U1800 and below
3) The horrible lighting in the back of the room where the Open section was. Lighting for boards 1, 2, 5, and 6 was horrible (I was at one of those two tables for rounds 1, 3, and 4).

Responding to previous posts, the organizer of the LPO has a reputation of always advertising a based-on that will result in a 50% payout. If it says "b/215", don't ever expect more than 107 players. It's been that way for years on end. Any time you see "Thad Rogers" as the organizer, when you decide whether or not you want to go, figures half the prize fund, unless he changes his advertisement." He continues with: "I even spoke to Thad and he asked me, since I've been to numerous tournaments, having played almost 1900 tournament games in my lifetime, what needs to be done. I told him the following: 2) The LPO is an adult tournament."
There is a #1, and a #3, and I urge you to read the forum posts, all of them. They had me LOLROTF! (http://www.ncchess.org/Discussion/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=403&sid=2ba6ea010d4154be325b059a7060aa98)

I would like to concentrate on #2 because there is no longer any such thing as an 'adult' tournament! There are so many children playing and competing for money that, without them, there could be no 'adult' tournaments. For example, I have been giving lessons to a student for the past two years. He takes them because his parents are from Azerbaijan and know the importance of chess to his developing brain. He is homeschooled, and chess lessons are a part of his schooling. He has only a moderate interest in chess, yet he has recently crossed into 900 range, which puts him in the top half of all tournament players in the US. That's right, the majority of current tournament players have ratings of only three digits!!!
And that is a large part of the problem with tournament chess. Consider this from an article in the LA Times:
The average age of chess masters has been steadily falling for years, but recently, that pace has quickened. To win a tournament in Reno last year, Jesse Kraai, a 28-year-old grandmaster from the Bay Area, played four of his six matches against children; the average age was 13.

"Today, you have 7- and 8-year-olds who are training better than Bobby Fischer did a generation before," said David Pruess, content manager for chess.com, a global chess website with 3 million members. He holds the international master ranking, one step higher than master and one below grandmaster.

This bounty of prodigal talent has had an unintended side effect: The half-life of a newly minted chess star has shrunk "to a year or two, tops," said Pruess, 29. "It's easy for a kid on his way up, full of confidence bordering on arrogance, to forget that he's become a target for even younger players."

Pruess, in a column last year, detailed his own loss to David Adelberg and good-naturedly warned the youngster that he'd better start preparing "for the 10-year-olds who will soon be coming to get him!"-From http://articles.latimes.com/2011/may/05/local/la-me-chess-kid-20110505

I received an email fom a friend, an adult who happens to also be a Senior, which included the following: "I owe my success to the fact that I didn't get paired against a bunch of kids."
He was truly a lucky fellow. Consider this, from another friend, also an adult Senior: "I lost like a beginner to a little kid this morning. It is hard to take and I think it is the reason most old fellas quit."
It made me wanna cry...
From another email: "The last time I played in a tournament all of my opponents were children. Only one was a teen, and he had just reached the teens at thirteen. I do not feel comfortable playing only children and will wait until I become a senior. That is why I applaud your efforts on behalf of all seniors and future seniors."

I realize there were problems with the LPO this year, and I feel for my friend, and former boss, Thad Rogers. The last post, at this time, is from Thad: Dear Chess Participants,

It was one of my most embarrassing tournaments that I have ever organizer. I am sorry about what happened. I just got back in at 3 a.m. I have a camp in Atlanta this week and getting ready for the
U.S. Open. I will give a full reply this coming Saturday.

Thad Rogers

While on duty at the Atlanta Chess & Game Center, aka, the House of Pain, I had an unfortunate situation when a youngster, in his exuberence, created too much noise, thereby upsetting an adult who was playing in a lower section because he is a career lower section type. It has been expecially difficult for those type of players who remain because they now have to play mostly children. Most stop coming to play. The adult was mad as hell. The child stood up like a man and showed something by making an apology. The adult would not take it and continued to complain until I stepped in saying, "The young man has already apologized, TWICE! He has learned a lesson. How about YOU!" The adult piped down, fortunately. So let's not all continue to beat poor Thad while he is down. I'm sure no one feels worse than does he. Give him a break, and let us all learn a lesson from this. Please. Because as bad as the LPO must have been, it is far from the worst chess tournament of all time. For example, I wrote about the problem of loud music entering the playing hall each time the large, thick doors were opened at the 2002 US Senior on the left coast. Then there is the tournament known as the 'sweat box open' which will long live in infamy. Just ask the Legendary Georgia Ironman, Tim Brookshear, and stand back! Fortunately, I missed that one. I missed the 'crack hotel' tournament, too. It was held in a hotel that had seen better days. Parents who had gone 'round back with their children were aghast. Other parents were told to not go near the back under any circumstances. Naturally, they had to go see for themselves...
The Ironman and I played in the Florida state championship one year that was also held in a hotel that had seen far too many spring breaks. I was talkwith a woman who's son was entered into the tournament after having stayed there the night before. When I mentioned that Tim and I had spent the night in the hotel, her eyes enlarged as she began to move away from me...
Ah, the chess road. How I miss it!

Uggla Crosses Mendoza Line!

2011-07-28T11:00:00.000-07:00

Last night in a game the Braves took from the Pirates by a score of 2-1 Dan Uggla went 3 for 4 and raised his batting average to .205, thereby crossing the infamous 'Mendoza line', which is .200. The previous game, now infamous because of the blown call at the plate, Uggla went 2 for eight in the 19 inning contest, finishing with a BA of .199. Uggla crossed the line in the 105th game of the season. It is difficult to raise your BA later in the season, so it is obvious Uggla has somewhat righted the ship. Uggla has now hit in eleven straight games, with 14 hits in 50 at bats, which works out to a .280 BA during that time, which is about average for him according to his lifetime BA. He has had two hits in three of those games, and a single hit in the others, so he is not exactly 'on fire'. But it is over one hundred points higher than the .170's he hit for the first 90+ games. He has only drawn four walks during the streak as opposed to his eleven strike outs. Who misses Jeff Francoeur? I was able to watch four straight Braves games over the weekend, staying in because of the unbearable heat, and it became more than a little obvious that their main problem is swinging at balls outta the strike zone. The Atlanta home park is a pitcher's park and it is difficlut to hit it outta the park. Nevertheless, the Braves go up there trying to hit a 3-run homer, with the bases empty. What they need are batters who will work the count and put the ball in play. That is not Uggla's style.
As for the terrible call to end the 19 inning game...Well, the ump had been sweating behind the dish for over six hours. He gets paid the same whether he works two hours, or six. It is only human nature to be, in that position, predisposed to having a 'safe' call in your head, unless you have no other choice. How many times have you heard an announcer say something like, "It's a blow-out, and it's hot as hell, so you know the ump has expanded the strike zone." Then the color man pops in with, "You are so right, Bubba. A batter has got to know that and go up there swinging."
All calls are not the same in baseball. When the count reaches 3-0 studies have proven the umps will call a strike on anything near the plate. It's not right, but that's just the way it is. Deal with it.
Speaking of blown calls...Before the game last night, Sports Center did a countdown of the top ten worst blown calls in baseball. Number one was the infamous Don Denkinger call in game six of the 1985 World Series. Whew, it stunk up the stadium, and the smell still lingers. I was surprised that the non-call from the 1991 World Series when Kent Hrbek slam-dunked Ron Gant off of first base was only rated as the sixth worst of all time. That was not the only terrible call of that World Series. David Justice stumbled coming around third base and was call out for not touching the bag, when the replay clearly showed his toe kicked up white powder from the bag! Memory fails, but I seem to recall a Braves player called out for leaving third base early on a fly ball. Replay showed he did no such thing. It seems that all the bad calls went against the Braves because all of the bad calls DID go against the Braves! Granted, if the right calls had been made, we would not have had the fabulous game seven pitching duel to remember, which some call the greatest game seven in World Series history. Then again, if the Braves had won that Series, as they should have, then there would not be the knock against Bobby Cox, and the Braves, 'under achieved' in that they only one one World Series. Not to mention the 1996 World Series, game three, when the Braves relief pitcher, Nuke LaLoosh, chose that exact time to start 'thinking'. All the while Tim McCarver, the former catcher and one of the best baseball on-air men of all time, was explaining that Nuke should not throw his third best pitch in the situation because, "If you get beat, you wanna get beat with your best." Which was his fastball. Unfortunately, Nuke began to cogitate at that very moment. He was no Butch Cassidy, as the home run by Jim Leyritz proved conclusively. The Braves coulda been the team of the decade. Instead, they became a contender...
With their best hitter, Brian McCann on the DL, the Braves will need Uggla to continue to be average, at least. It's tough when your best hitter wears the 'tools of ignorance', because the probability of injury is so great. Ask the SF Giants.

Thanks For The Comments

2011-07-27T11:15:00.000-07:00

First, to the reader who left the url concerning Abe Lincoln, thank you; Thank You; THANK YOU! I cannot remember when I've laughed so much! (http://www.mondominishows.com/index.php?IdEpisode=242&episodesPage=0&series=16.)
A big thank you goes to the person leaving the url (http://nc-chess.blogspot.com/) on my post, 2011 US Senior. I resided in the great state of NC some years ago and was unaware Walter High was writing a blog. I like what he has done in researching attendance over the past year. I know it must have taken him some time. I would like to see more stats like this; for example, a list from each year going back a decade, from 2001-2010. This could be done for the years 1991-2000, since the USCF database begins in 1991. Looking at data like this one can see trends. Speaking of trends, I would like to point out Walter's latest post, The LPO and Problems with Chess Tournaments. I recall USCF Ex Dir Bill Hall writing in an issue of Chess Life magazine something about having to address the problem of losing so many adult members at the US Open meetings. That was a couple of years ago, I think; or was it just last year? I read recently that what we perceive as time does actually speed up as one ages, and that it seems to advance at 2 1/2 times the rate at 60 as opposed to 20.
I am one of those people who print out articles I wish to read in lieu of reading them online. I made the post, King's Game in Queer Street, before actually reading the whole article. As for the comment, I wondered the same thing. I mean, it's rather obvious when it comes to women's chess tournaments. What is to stop a world class GM from declaring he is 'gay' and playing in the event? If he is not homosexual and questioned, he could just say he thought the tournament was for 'happy' people! Do not laugh, I saw a half-page ad in the NY Times by 'gays' in which they decried the fact that younger people today are using the word 'gay' to mean something different from homosexual. I do not know who wrote the article because it is not signed. When I got around to reading the whole thing, I was struck by this sentence, "Chess player is a person who has some aberrations." I was reminded of the time I was on a balcony with my friend Tim Brookshear overlooking the playing area of the World Open before the event, when the Ironman looked at me and said, "Bacon, everyone who comes here to play has had his life altered by chess." Ain't it the truth!
As for the coment about using the ko rule in chess where the pawns can retreat...Well, I see your point. In the Ruy Lopez, when white plays his boshop to b5 and black answers with a6 and white retreats the bishop, black could retreat the pawn and white could move his bishop to b5 once again, thereby drawing the game. But if players really want to make a draw, what is to stop them even without the ko rule? After writing the post I had a dream in which I had a pawn on the seventh rank, and when I moved it to the eight rank and reached for a Queen, my opponent asked, "What are you doing?" I informend him I intended to promote the pawn to a Queen. "You cannot do that," he said. "Why the hell not?" I shot back. "Because it is a knight pawn and you can only promote to a knight."
In my dream one could only promote the pawn to whatever file it was on. Kinda makes the queen pawn more valuable, unless one is about to be mated on the move and has a pawn on the King file. Then one gets a new King!
Concerning Monroi...I've ragged on them for some time, but not in the past few years. It does seem like they have had more than enough time to work out the bugs, does it not? But I gotta say that I REALLY like the feature of producing a copy of the scoresheet, which includes the time taken by both opponents. Every game published should show the time used as it reveals a great deal about the players.
One more thing...Michael Weinreb, who wrote the book, Game of Kings: A Year Among the Oddballs and Geniuses Who Make Up America's Top High School Chess Team, has written a piece on the new Stathead blog at baseball-reference titled, Statis Pro Baseball: An Instruction Manual: The exhausting work of adolescent obsession. (http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/6790592/instruction-manual)
I, too, played a table-top baseball game when I was young. I sent off for an APBA brochure and learned enough to make my own game. I also made my own football game. My friend who lived across the street, Larry Jones, who was the center fielder on our high school team, would come over and we would spend hours playing on the days it rained. Later I earned enough money to send off for a Negamco baseball game, which, I later learned, was a cheaper version of Big League Manager. Neither Larry or I liked it nearly as much as the game I invented. I have known other chess players who played table-top games as children, including Thad Rogers, who owned a BLM, and Chris Chambers, who was a Strat-O-Matic man. How about you?

Revolutionary Proposal For Chess: Free The Pawns!

2011-07-25T11:16:00.000-07:00

Reading the latest from the fantastic website of GM Kevin Spraggett caused me to have an epiphany. His entry is titled: Capablanca on why he lost the world title. (http://kevinspraggett.blogspot.com/2011/07/capablanca-on-why-he-lost-world-title.html)
Kevin has been reading Chess Notes by Edward Winter, #7134 Capablanca explains his defeat by Alekhine. (http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/index.html)
Herman Helms asks the former World Champ, ‘’What modification would you suggest?’’
Capa answers,
‘’The board can be changed so as to encompass 100 squares instead of 64. Ofcourse, that would mean the addition of two more pieces and two pawns on each side.’’
It may come to that in the future, but I will not be around to see it. I do, though, have a radical, revolutionary proposal to change the game of chess. It will include no extra pieces, or squares, leaving the game pretty much as it is. But it will radically change the game.
I propose we FREE THE PAWNS! I once heard the Legendary Georgia Ironman say, while giving a lesson at the House of Pain, "I never retreat. I only advance to the rear!"
What better way of advancing to the rear, when necessary, than allowing the pawns to move BACKWARD!

King's Game in Queer Street?

2011-07-24T14:48:00.000-07:00

California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill making California the first state in the nation to add lessons about gays and lesbians to social studies classes in public schools. He said, "History should be honest," the governor said in a statement Thursday. "This bill revises existing laws that prohibit discrimination in education and ensures that the important contributions of Americans from all backgrounds and walks of life are included in our history books." (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/14/california-gay-history-law-jerry-brown_n_898745.html)
I agree that history should be honest. It is time we recognized cross-dressing head of the FBI J. Edgar Hoover and the homosexual relationship he had with long time number 2 Clyde Tolson, for example.
I thought of this upon surfing an article on the new website, WhyChess. The title of this post is taken from an article on the site of the same title. (http://www.whychess.org/node/74)
The article begins, "On October 16th, 2010, in the city of Malaga, Spain, there was held the 1st Gay Chess Open Championship (those who don’t hide their names)." The rest you can read for yourself...
I decided to research 'happy' chess and discovered there was a tournament in Torremolinos. The article, Gay chess, as Torre queens take over the world, (http://www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/2010/10/10/gay-chess-as-torre-queens-take-over-the-world/), begins: "IN further efforts to attract the pink pound, Torremolinos is holding a gay chess tournament.
With a top prize of 1500 euros, it seems it pays to be gay…and good at chess."
One comment was left by smeone named Juan.
October 11th, 2010 10:09 am

Ridiculous and discriminatory. If I decided to hold a chess tournament (or any other sporting event) and declared “no homosexuals allowed” there would be an outcry.

I also found this in the Campbell Report: (www.correspondencechess.com/campbell/reviews.htm)
"In issue three the main topic was Weaver Adams, an other well-known gay chess master..."
As Johnny Carson used to say, "I didn't KNOW that."

I found, The chess games of Alan Turing, at (www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=96117)
It is only one game, but an interesting historical game nevertheless, as it is considered to be, "arguably" it is said, the first computer chess game. Since there was no computer then, it was played with "pencil and paper." The opponent was Alick Glennie and it was a Vienna Game: Falkbeer Variation. Guess who won?

Honest About Abe

2011-07-23T09:05:00.000-07:00

Watched the movie 'The Tall Target' on TCM this morning. The star is Dick Powell and the movie is about a plot to assassinate Abraham Lincoln as he travels on the Ohio & Baltimore Railway to his inauguration in 1861. At the end of the movie the Lincoln character says, "Has any President had to travel to his inauguration like a thief in the night?" I do not know if that is a direct quote from Lincoln, but history records he was considered by many, and not just those from the South, a coward for the way he came to Washington.
Lincoln is considered to be the 16th President of the US, but, in reality the states were not united while he was President, so he should be called the first President of the disunited states.
Because presidential hopeful Michelle Bachman has admitted to having migraine headaches it has been mentioned that Lincoln also suffered from migraine headaches, among his other maladies. Joshua Wolf Shenk wrote a book, Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness, in which he posited that Lincoln's depression made him a BETTER president! Depression is a dibilitating disease. He wants us to believe that Lincoln, unlike every other person who has ever suffered from depression, was made BETTER. The thought defies comprehension.
The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln by C. A. Tripp and Jean Baker, questions Lincoln's sexuality. They write that he shared a bed with different men on NUMEROUS occasions, but then write that he was "forced" to do so because of a lack of beds in those days. Until this book, I had been unaware of such a lack of beds.
Fortunately, some historians are beginning to write truthfully about the real Lincoln. Read the book: The Real Lincoln: A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, and an Unnecessary War by Thomas J. DiLorenzo.

2011 US Senior

2011-07-21T15:11:00.000-07:00

I will admit to being shocked, SHOCKED!, upon reading on the USCF website that 70 players had entered this year's US Senior. The article, Senior Open Underway in Houston, states: "The 71 players, so far, easily surpassed last year’s attendance of 49." (http://main.uschess.org/content/view/11306/636/)
Then I recalled the last minute addition of a 3-day schedule whereby players could play 3 one hour games at 10am, 12:30pm, 3pm, then merge with the one game a day players for a 'classical' game at the more traditional time control of 40/2, G1. This is happening as I write. Twenty players chose the much shorter time limit. In a few hours those burned-out players will try to complete their FOURTH game of the day! Good luck with that...
The sad fact is that there were no more players at the US Senior this year than last. I find it rather sad that 20 players opted for the 4 rounds in one day format because to play is a way of voting for the format. Future organizers will look at this and see it as a way of 'enhancing' the turnout and opt for more of it. It is a crying shame that someone, anyone, in USCF does not have the BALLS to just say no to these organizers who foist trumped-up games on Seniors!

Just Say No To Monroi

2011-07-21T09:40:00.000-07:00

Looking for information on the US Senior on the USCF website, I saw the link to the dreaded Monroi. I regretted clicking on it as soon as I did. Something I read on the website of GM Kevin Spraggett, who has what has to be the most interesting website of any GM, came to mind. He wrote, "Once more MONROI proved to be the wrong medium to host web coverage of leading tournaments. Their site often fails and has bugs that have not been resolved yet." (http://kevinspraggett.blogspot.com/2011/07/some-chess_17.html)
I have written much the same, including writing to the Ex Dir of USCF. Since I am not a GM, Kevin's words have much more gravitas than mine! At this time, nothing can beat the DGT board.
There is one feature of Monroi I do like very much, and that is the fact that one can print out a nice scoresheet, which is a great thing for those of us who like to play over the game on a set & board.

Hail Viktor!

2011-07-18T11:09:00.000-07:00

Dennis Monokroussos reports on his Chess Mind blog that 80 year forever young Viktor Korchnoi has won the chess championship of Switzerland, an amazing feat. (http://www.thechessmind.net/blog/2011/7/17/korchnoi-wins-swiss-championship.html)
Christian Bauer actually won the tournament with a score of 7 1/2 out of 9, but he is from France. Andrei Sokolov finished second with 8 points, so Viktor, who actually tallied 6 1/2 points, finished in a large tie for third. Viktor won a playoff with Joe Gallagher, as they had the best tiebreaks.
I have never understood why the champion of a state, or especially a country, would be chosen in an open tournament. I cannot imagine the US Champion being chosen in the US Open by finishing in a tie for third. That has happened several times in the great state of Georgia. I recall David Vest 'winning' the state title once by finishing, along with several others, behind other players from out of state. The new 'champions' finished with 3 1/2 points. Since Mr Vest was also the Georgia State Senior Champion, I told him he must be the only player ever to hold both titles, maybe anywhere. He was not impressed. As a matter of fact, Mr Vest, aka the High Plains Drifter, was deprecatory concerning his 'accomplishment'. I asked him if he would feel differently if he had scored 4 points and he answered, "Not much."
Then I asked how he would have felt if he had scored 4 1/2 points. "Then I would've won the tournament!" Mr Vest never made much of his 'win'. The Same goes for the Legendary Georgia Ironman, Tim Brookshear. He tied with a group one year, also scoring 3 1/2 points to 'win' the title of Georgia champ. I have rarely ever heard him mention the fact. Not so with a fellow named John Austin, who tied with Tim, and others. It was the first thing he said to me, and it is the first thing he says to anyone who will listen. You may recall Mr Austin from a post on the BaconLOG from June of '09, 'Gizmos, etc at the Ga St Championship'. He is the fellow with the ringing cellphone during the round.

Valiant Effort

2011-07-18T10:32:00.000-07:00

The wonderful World Cup women from the USofA gave it all they had and I enjoyed watching them play like girls, as Jennifer Shahade would say (Play Like a Girl!: Tactics by 9Queens by Jennifer Shahade), which is a chess book for all you lovers of Megan who have been directed to the BaconLOG. There has been an incredible increase in viewers since I posted I LOVE MEGAN RAPINOE!
Ian Darke, the announcer with the British accent said that when Pia Sundhage, the new coach of Team USA, met her team she played a song on her guitar by none other than Bob Dylan! She played 'The Times They Are A-Changing' and it turned out to be prophetic, as Japan was the first Asian team to win the Women's World Cup. Hats off to that plucky team from a beleaguered land, who withstood the onslaught from the US team in the first half. I still do not believe what I witnessed.
I have fallen in love with the World Cup, especially the women. Sure wish we had the proper kind of football when I was young. I have always had a stronger lower body than upper. I could run like the wind and run all day and night. Those were the days! I believe I would have been a very good footballer. Maybe in my next life...

Chicks Are Complicated

2011-07-17T09:10:00.000-07:00

The title comes from a quote by Julie Foudy in an article titled, 'U.S. Goalkeeper Made Quite a Comeback of Her Own' published in the NY Times, July 12, 2011.
“Men are definitely different in that regard,” said Julie Foudy, a former captain of the American team. “Men can say whatever, and go and have a beer afterward. Chicks are complicated..."
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/13/sports/soccer/us-goalkeeper-made-quite-a-comeback-of-her-own.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=a%20comeback%20of%20herown&st=cse
While reading an article in the NY Times, 'Daytime Show About Women Isn’t Soap Opera', I came across this:
"Women’s soccer doesn’t always get this kind of respect, even in countries where the sport is revered. To boost male interest in their team, three of the French team players posed nude for a German newspaper this month. The players, arms strategically draped to conceal their nipples, were photographed over the tagline, “Is this how we should show up before you come to our games?"
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/14/arts/television/womens-soccer-becomes-must-see-tv.html?scp=1&sq=world%20cup%20soccer%20on%20tv&st=cse
The British announcer o the World Cup matches mentioned this, saying the publicity had caused ratings or the rench women's team to increase dramatically.
Hmmmm...That made me think of the famous picture of the artist, Marcel Duchamp, playing chess against a nude female opponent. Then a light bulb went off in the BaconHead. Why not publicize women's chess in the US by having the girls play nude? Then there would be four boobies in the picture in lieu of only two as in the Duchamp picture. Dueling boobies!Imagine beautiful nude female chessplayers walking around on camera at the St Louis Chess and Scholastic Center for everyone to behold all over the world! I'm willing to wager a spectacle like that would at least double the adult male membership of USCF! For if women are 'complicated', because no man can ever know what a woman is thinking when she looks at a man, it is well known that every heterosexual man is simple in that when a man looks at a woman, he simply sees her nude, no matter how much she is wearing!

I Love Megan Rapinoe!

2011-07-16T14:49:00.000-07:00

I have been fortunate enough to watch all the games played by the wonderful women of the USA football team. Missing the first half, I was in time to watch the second half of the game against Brazil. The game was replayed later on that day, so I tuned in to watch the first half and was so riveted to the action that I watched the second half again! It was hard to believe my eyes the first time, so I was compelled to watch again.
After hearing the story of Megan Rapinoe, I fell in love. For those who do not know the story, Megan lost her starting position before the first game of the World Cup. She took her demotion like a woman and has become a super-sub! I was dissapointed when I did not see her on the field during the first half in the next game against France. I was even more disappointed when I did not see her start the second half. France was all over the exhausted USA squad to begin the second half, but when the coach inserted Megan at the 65 minute mark, her energy gave the team the lift it needed. "Megan came off the bench and changed the game," Coach Pia Sundhage said. A good coach must know exactly what a player is capable of and put them in the right spot to succeed. One article mentioned Megan's "surgically repaired knees." It could be that Coach Pia understands that Megan is better at coming off of the bench than going the distance.
Only one time during my time playing baseball did I not start a game. It was my last year of high school ball and Coach Jackson came to me before the game to inform me that he had decided to insert Jack Nunn into my position. "Now Bacon, you can go to the bench and sulk, or you can lead the chearing section. The team will be looking to you, so decide what kinda man who want to be." I cannot tell you how much it hurt to not start that game. I had to admit that I was in a slump, so I became the most vocal of the benchwarmers. All season the subs had been quite and docile, but now they had a leader. We were behind by a run in the last inning and I put on the 'rally cap' and the team got into it. We got a runner on first and Jack was up. "Bacon," the coach yelled, "grab a bat." Did I! But then I paused... This was a terrible thing for Jack, but I followed the coach's command, realizing the situation called for a bunt and I was the best bunter on the team. The slump did not matter if all I had to do was bunt. Up at the plate I got the sign from coach Jackson. When I read the sign, it was a special play; the swinging bunt! I was to square around as if to bunt while the runner took off for second base, and then draw the bat back and hit the ball into the hole vacated by the enemy second baseman. For a moment I thought I had better call time and ask the coach if I had read his sign right, but thinking that would give the play away, I got in the batter's box. I did exactly as we had practiced and the play worked so perfectly that the ball died before it could get to the rightfielder and the runner on first made third and I wound up on second. A single drove us both in and I scored the winning run. I was mobbed by my teammates, with Jack the first to hug me. After the season was over the team voted for the player that most typlified the '105' spirit, what we all chattered all year, meaning you give that extra effort, 105%. I won the trophy with only one vote not for me, as I had voted for another player. Because it was given to me my my teammates, I will treasure the thought as long as I live.
I have gotten into world cup football so much in the past few decades that I have even read books on the game, the last one being, Chasing the Game: America and the Quest for the World Cup by Filip Bondy. I actually like the women's game better than the men's. As I read the article, Routine Ruse in Men’s Soccer Tumbles Into Women’s World Cup, in the NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/12/sports/soccer/at-the-womens-world-cup-drama-without-all-the-dramatics.html?scp=3&sq=womens%20world%20cup&st=cse) I realized why. The women are more honest than the men!
What we Americans call 'soccer' is called 'football' in the rest of the world, showing how out of step our violent prone society is with everyone else in on this planet. International football is a beautiful game. It is closer to chess, or Go, than the game we call football, which really should be called 'maimball'. We are a violent society and it is reflected in our most popular sport, 'maimball'. I read an article some years ago in which the author posited that there has been a direct correlation between the increasing popularity of 'maimball' and violent crime in our country. If you tune into HLN you will find a countdown clock counting down the hours, minutes, and seconds, until some young woman, who was found not guilty of murdering her daughter, is released from jail. We would have a much better country if the people responsible for that kind of thing would instead insert a countdown clock until the start of the World Cup Championship game between Japan and the USA. I know I'm counting down. How about you?

Was The Fix In?

2011-07-15T08:19:00.000-07:00

Upon learning a mistrial had been declared in the Roger Clemens trial due to an error that "Any first year law student would not have made," I thought of one of the most interesting books I've read in the past few years, The Fix Is In: The Showbiz Manipulations of the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL and NASCAR by Brian Tuohy. No one who reads the book will ever think of sports in the same way again.
Certainly Bud and the boys at MLB did not want any more negative publicity about raging 'roids and the game of baseball. Absolutely nothing could have been better for Bud and the owners than a mistrial. Makes one wonder...

Nakamura Knocked Out!

2011-07-15T07:51:00.000-07:00

The headline reads: Chess wins as Nakamura goes all-in
It seems 'Chris' Nakamura decided to pay his money and take his chances at the WSOP. He made it through the first day...
http://www.whychess.org/en/node/759

Another Defection From Chess

2011-07-14T14:07:00.000-07:00

HOWARD Stern has revealed why he ditched chess for photography.

“Chess was becoming an obsession. I felt that after three years as a hobby, I have reached pretty much where I was gonna go. In my dreams, I would start to see chess games. I said, ‘This is not good for me,’ so I took up photography,” he told US TV show Extra.

From: http://www.showbizspy.com/article/235399/howard-stern-swaps-chess-for-photography.html

Who Chose Ryan Vogelsong for MLB All-Star Team?

2011-07-13T15:02:00.000-07:00

Showtime is filming the San Francisco Giants for a series titled, “The Franchise: A Season With the San Francisco Giants." In an article in the Sunday NY Times, A Documentary Team Aims for the Bleachers, (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/10/arts/television/showtimes-franchise-follows-san-francisco-giants.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=the%20franchise&st=cse), it is written of the producers: "They’re hoping that Ryan Vogelsong, a journeyman pitcher whose surprising success this season has become a major story line, will make the team. Mr. Oshinsky anticipates emotional moments and dramatic shots — a cut from the manager’s pregame pep talk to Vogelsong’s face — and Mr. Waksman interjects that they need to have a basic plan that includes only what they know will happen. “Assume none of these guys does anything,” he says."
The manager of the SF Giants, Bruce Bochy, managed the NL All-Star squad and he chose Vogelsong for the All-Star team. He has had a fine first half of the season, but does that make him an All-Star? Many players in the history of MLB have had been outstanding in the first half of the season, but did not make the All-Star team. Did Bochy REALLY make the choice, or was he ordered, because of the Showtime series, to add Vogelsong to the team by someone like Bud Selig, Commissioner of MLB?

Becoming a 'Beast'

2011-07-09T08:53:00.000-07:00

Some time ago a GM Nigel Davies post, Why Sleep Is Important, appeared in my inbox. (http://chessimprover.com/2011/06/18/why-sleep-is-important/)
Later GM Kevin Spraggett, prompted by the earlier post by GM Davies, wrote about sleep on his amazing blog in an entry dated Friday, July 1, 2011. (http://kevinspraggett.blogspot.com/) Quoting from GM Spraggett, "Clearly getting insufficient sleep will noticeably reduce your reasoning power, which is the chess player's most important weapon in his arsenal. No matter how hard you might want to concentrate, it simply doesn't materialize if you don't have enough sleep. Sleep increases mental energy."
"From my own experience, I have learned that the energy required for a 5-hour game is so great that you need to plan ahead and have reserves of energy ready. The only practical way to do this is to get up within 3 or 4 hours of the game: then you will still be wide awake and ready for the entire day ahead."
GM Spraggett supports my contention that the round time at a US Senior should be at ten or eleven in the morning; noon at the latest. It is a sad fact that the US Senior has never considered the exigencies of the Senior players.
I could not help but think about what the greatest chess player to have ever lived, World Chess Champion Bobby Fischer, said concerning the importance of sleep. He said something about a good night of sleep being more important than knowing all the theory.
Some years ago there was a picture taken before the last round of all of the participants in the South Carolina Senior who had not left for home except for yours truly. I had fallen asleep in the car after eating lunch. It seems like yesterday I played in the Point Lounge Open after staying up all night. I won my first two games before losing to the future NM Joe Jurjevich in the third round Saturday night. I would not even consider attempting such a thing at my age. Just as well blindfold me and put me in front of the firing squad...
I drove a taxi at night for Buckhead Safety Cab back in the 80's. I was like a vampire, going to sleep when the sun was coming up. I tried taking a few days off to readjust my schedule before playing in the some of the larger tournaments a few times. That did not turn out well because I would feel sleepy while trying to play during the day, then come alive at night when I should be sleeping! My results showed it, too.
Winston Churchill recommended a nap after being awake about eight hours. He advised one to take off his clothes and get in bed for half an hour, and only half an hour. He said it was like having two days, and, during the War, he needed it. I try to do exactly that these days because it often feels like a tsunami wave of fatigue overcoming me in the afternoon. After a nap I have a cuppa java and feel somewhat rejuvenated. The truth is that my energy level is about half of what it was after my first cuppa joe in the morning, but at least I can still function. Once one of those tsuanmi waves rolls over me, I am weak and worthless without a nap.
The way chess tournaments are scheduled is not conducive to obtaining enough sleep. The days of grabbing a biggy burger and cramming it down my gullet between rounds are, thankfully, behind me. Beginning a game a few hours before my sleep period and trying to play while my body is trying to shut down is out of the question. Yet, to play chess, even in Senior tournaments, these are the kind of things one must do in order to play. If you think about it, these kinds of things take the fun right out of chess.
Thinking about this kind of thing, I came to the realization that if one breaks down my day into four equal parts, morning, afternoon, evening, and night, of about four hours each, then one could say that I am, in chess terms, an expert in the morning, class 'A' in the afternoon, class 'C' in the evening, and become a 'beast' at night, dropping into the dreaded triple digits! Knowing that, under those circumstances one would have to be a fool to begin a five hour game of chess at the time one is becoming a 'beast'.

USCF US Senior Hyperbole

2011-07-07T15:12:00.000-07:00

In an article, U.S. Junior & U.S. Senior Opens Headline Houston Chess Festival, that has just been posted on the USCF website (http://main.uschess.org/content/view/11291/636/), it is written, concerning entries for the US Senior, that, "The early entries have already exceeded the attendance for last year’s event."
I clicked onto the site given, (http://www.active.com/more-sports/houston-tx/us-senior-chess-championship-2011), and counted 43 pre-entries. "That's funny," I thought to myself, thinking that, since I have written about Senior chess for some time now, I recall there were only 49 players at the event last year. So I went to the USCF crosstable at: (http://main.uschess.org/assets/msa_joomla/XtblMain.php?201008284851.0-11126545), and found I was correct. They need 7 more players to exceed last years total. I sincerely hope they make it. I am amazed that such a large number have already signed up to play. I would not play if paid to do so. As I have written previously, seven o'clock central time is eight o'clock to my eastern time zone body, and I will not consider begining a classical chess game of five hours duration at eight pm. I turn in around eleven these daze. It is terribly difficult to try and play good moves when ones body is crying for sleep. It is, at my age, simply out of the question.

Chess & Baseball

2011-07-07T09:09:00.000-07:00

The question of the month on the US Chess Trust website is: Where Do You Place Fischer On The List of Greatest Players Ever?
http://www.uschesstrust.org/2011/07/04/question-of-the-month-where-do-you-place-fischer-on-the-list-of-greatest-players-ever/
The President of the US Chess Trust, Jim Eade answers the question by writing, "Just for my own amusement, I tried to think about which baseball pitcher I would pair with which player..."
Guess which former MLB pitcher Jim pairs with Bobby?
He also writes: "I, personally, rate Karpov just a bit above Fischer." When you stop laughing, consider which former pitcher Mr. Eade thinks of as a baseball version of Karpov.
The one that made me laugh out loud while rolling on the floor (Bet you didn't think an old(er) guy like me could tweet, now did you? Are you now LOLROTF?!) was the former chess player he pairs with Gary Kasparov. Come to think of it, Jim may have something, there...

In A League By Himself

2011-07-06T10:11:00.000-07:00

Last night Dan Uggla hit a home run and a double, and also walked twice, getting on base all four times he came to the plate, probably a first for the season. He raised his batting average all the way up to .178, which is still lowest, by far, of all regular players in the majors. He raised his on base percentage to .250, which is pitiful, by any standard. The Braves no-brain trust hope, no doubt, that last nights versus the Rockies signal a 'return to form' for the beleaguered player.
There is a new article on the excellent Hardball Times website today titled: The 2011 All-Collapse All-Stars
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/the-2011-all-collapse-all-stars/

Most of the players who made the 'team' are 30 or older. The only exceptions are the 28 year old third baseman of the Brewers, Casey McGehee, and the 27 year old relief pitcher (called 'closer' for some unknown reason), Joakim Soria of the Royals. Relief pitchers are notorious for being great one year and stinking up the bullpen the next. This is in line with a study appearing in AGE, the official journal of the American Aging Association: Athlete Atypicity on the Edge of Human Achievement: Performances Stagnate after the Last Peak, in 1988 (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2808355/)
The study makes a case that performance peaks from 20 to 30 years of age, then declines irreversibly. This is in line with what is known about the amount of time spent on the disabled list by baseball players.
There is a nice picture of the Uggla player at the end of a swing. The caption reads: "At least he looks good swinging through this pitch."
The last sentence of what is written about him is, "Uggla is in a league by himself with this year’s collapse."
His collapse is one of epic proportions. It may be the worst of all time.

KnuckleBalls

2011-07-04T08:52:00.000-07:00

The Yankees vs Mets game was supposed to begin at one pm Sunday. Imagine my surprise when I sat down to eat a sammy at 2:30 and found the game about to begin. R.A.Dickey was the starting pitcher for the Mets. Most all baseball fans know his story. He was drafted by Texas and about to sign a $800,000 bonus when one of the trainers notice something funny about the way Dickey's arm was hanging on the cover of Baseball America. Upon exaimination, the doctor found R.A. was born without the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow. He signed for $75,000. Basically, it cost him a zero. He made it to the show by learning to throw a knuckleball.
Phil Kniekro was my favorite Brave for many years. I loved to watch him pitch because he threw the knuckleball. I enjoyed watching the best hitters flail away at Knucksie's flutterball without making contact. Twice he won 20 games for the Braves, and twice he lost 20. In 1979 he won 21 and lost 20! You have got to be real good to win and lose 20 games in one season. Phil is in the Hall of Fame. In 1977 he pitched in 330 innings. The next year he topped that by pitching in 334 innings. In 1979 he pitched in 342 innings. These days it would take two starting pitchers to pitch that many innings. Having met Phil, I liked him so much that I even pulled for him when he signed with the Damn Yankees! I would pull for Phil to pitch 6 or 7 good innings, keeping his team in the game, and then turn it over to the bullpen, when I hoped the relief pitchers would get bombed! Hey, that's the best I can do when it comes to the Damn Yankees...
R.A. met 'Knucksie' a few years ago and Phil gave him some advice, "No matter where it goes, never let the batter know it didn't go where you wanted it to go."
Earlier this year R.A. came down with a case of plantar fasciitis. It is a painful inflammatory process of the plantar fascia, which is the thick connective tissue which supports the arch of the foot. I, too, have it, unfortunately. I purchased some Dr. Scholls inserts which has allowed me to walk with much less pain. Unfortunately, the foot will become painful later after walking.
R.A. got a base-hit in the game, which turned out to be the worst thing that could have happened to him, as he had to leave the game later after running the bases. It would have been better for him if the game had been played in Yankee Stadium, under AL rules with the Dreaded Hitter batting for the pitcher. Although R.A. did not get the win, the Mets did beat the Damn Yankees. Any day the Damn Yankess lose is a good day!

Gettysburg

2011-07-03T08:40:00.000-07:00

In the year 1863 this was the last day of the battle at Gettysburg. It has been called a turning point and the beginning of the end of the Confederacy. Over the three day battle, enough men were killed and wounded to fill a modern day sports stadium. There was only one civilian casualty: Jennie Wade, who was hit by a stray bullet that passed through her kitchen wall and killed her while she was baking bread.
Most people know a little about what happened at Gettysburg during the three day battle, but few know of what came after. In what has become known as one of the greatest feats in warfare, General Robert E. Lee led the successful retreat from Gettysburg.
For those who would like to know move I suggest the book, Retreat from Gettysburg: Lee, Logistics, and the Pennsylvania Campaign by Kent Masterson Brown. About the book from Amazon: In a groundbreaking, comprehensive history of the Army of Northern Virginia's retreat from Gettysburg in July 1863, Kent Masterson Brown draws on previously untapped sources to chronicle the massive effort of General Robert E. Lee and his command as they sought to move people, equipment, and scavenged supplies through hostile territory and plan the army's next moves.
More than fifty-seven miles of wagon and ambulance trains and tens of thousands of livestock accompanied the army back to Virginia. The movement of troops and supplies over the challenging terrain of mountain passes and despite the adverse conditions of driving rain and muddy quagmires is carefully described, as are General George G. Meade's attempts to attack the trains along the South Mountain range and at Hagerstown and Williamsport, Maryland. Lee's deliberate pace, skillful use of terrain, and constant positioning of the army behind defenses so as to invite attack caused Union forces to delay their own movements at critical times.

Brown concludes that even though the battle of Gettysburg was a defeat for the Army of Northern Virginia, Lee's successful retreat maintained the balance of power in the eastern theater and left his army with enough forage, stores, and fresh meat to ensure its continued existence as an effective force.

The Great Moodini

2011-07-02T14:38:00.000-07:00

When one escapes from a hopeless position in chess, he is called a 'Houdini'. What is this player called when things do not go as planned and he snatches defeat from the jaws of victory? I would like to suggest a new term be added to the lexicon of chess terms for such a situation-Moodini! That's right, henceforth I would like to hear players wandering around shaking their heads, if not beating them against a wall, while muttering, "I am the Great Moodini!" When asked, "How did you do?", the player who has just lost a completely 'won' position will answer, "I pulled a Moodini."
To better understand why I suggest 'Moodini' as the term for such poor play, I suggest you go to your favorite search engine and input, The Great Moodini, or watch this video: http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/video-stuntman-injured-atlanta-motor-speedway-20110603-es

Can It Get Any More Uggla?

2011-07-02T08:51:00.000-07:00

Last night the manager of the Braves, Freddie Gonzalez, inserted Dan Uggla, into the sixth spot in the batting order, right behind Freddie Freeman. Dan struck out swinging the first three times up. The third strikeout was a double play because Freeman, who had walked, was caught stealing at second base. The next batter, Alex Gonzalez, hit a deep drive to LF for a double. McLouth was walked intentionally to bring up the pitcher, Jair Jurrjens, who struck out to end the inning. So far this year the Braves have stolen 25 bases, and have been caught trying to steal the same number of times. For a steal attempt to be considered successful, the steal must be made at least 75% of the time. The Braves are not a fast team. They have made an inordinate number of outs on the bases this year, and the manager just compounds things when he sends a runner. With a black hole in whichever spot the manager places Uggla, and the mistakes on the bases, the Braves still win, in spite of one of the truly bad managers to have ever managed a team.
The last time at bat it got even uglier as Uggla took a called third strike.

The Dreaded Hitter

2011-07-01T14:43:00.000-07:00

I think I would like Bill James. I have read most everything he has writtn on the game of baseball. That does not mean I agree with everything he has written, though. What he does is make me think.
He once wrote that he believed the desiginated hitter made the game MORE complicated for the manager! Go figure...As far as I'm concerned, he could not be more wrong.
Chris Welch, the 'color' man on the Reds broadcasts, during a discussion on the DH during the game between the Reds and Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays, on 6/28/11, said this about the AL: "You can sleepwalk and manage at the same time in this league."
My sentiments exactly. The AL is simply not real baseball. As far as I'm concerned, there is only one league, and that is the league in which the pitcher steps up to the plate with a piece of lumber in his hands! When a game is played in which someone hits but does not take the field, it is only an exhibition game. Hey, you've got your world view, and I've got mine!

How Baseball Has Changed

2011-07-01T09:07:00.000-07:00

Wednesday afternoon at Wrigley Field in the windy city, Chicago. The Cubs faced off with the defending World Champs, the San Francisco Giants. What a game it was! I remember reading somewhere about a guy who was dying. Someone asked him what he would miss about life, and one of the things he mentioned was "...being able to watch a meaningless mid-season baseball game." I had the opportunity of doing just that and availed myself of the pleasure wednesday afternoon. The Cubs faced off with the defending World Champs, the San Francisco Giants. What a game it was!
The Freak, Tim Linecum took the mound for the guys from the left coast, while Ryan Dempster started for the Cubbies. It turned out to be a pitcher's duel. The Cubs scored one in the bottom of the seventh and that was it until the ninth, as Dempster retired twenty in a row at one point. Pat Burrell led off with a double in the top of the ninth and...out comes the manager of the Cubs, Mike Quade. Dempster had only thrown 83 pitches, far below the usual century mark managers use as a standard these daze. I could not believe my eyes when he brought in a relief pitcher! "My god man," I thought, "this can't be happening!" I could hear Tim McCarver in my mind talking about what Bob Gibson would've said to the manager back in the day if he had been dumb enough to try and take the ball out of Gibson's hands at this point of the game. Hell, I can't imagine Leo Durocher coming out in 1969 to try and relieve Ferguson Jenkins, the Cubs HOFer who completed 23 of the 42 starts he made that year. Used to be a game like that belonged to the starting pitcher, and WE LIKED IT THAT WAY!
Now the namby-pamby spoiled pitchers only pitch every fifth day and are expected to go only six innings for a so-called 'quality start'. Now the hurlers are considered to be over-worked if they throw more than 200 innings a season. Back in '69 Fergie Jenkins hurled 311. His teammate Bill Hands took the mound for 300, while the #3 starter, Ken Holtzman, pitched 261, which would lead MLB these crazy, hazy, daze...
The relief pitcher allowed the man on second to score, but shut the Giants down and the Cubs scored to win the game. So the so-called 'closer', Carlos Marmol got credit for blowing a save opportunity and also winning the game. Who said baseball was fair?
Speaking of fair...The Braves manager, Freddie Gonzalez, has inserted the worst hitter in the major leagues, Dan Uggla, whose stats are truly ugly, into the #2 spot in the batting order, to "try and get him going." What he ought to do is get him going to the minor leagues! I read somewhere that the most important batting order position in relation to scoring runs was the second spot. I recall it because I was so surprised. I would not have guessed it, and I don't miss much in my beloved game of baseball. For some time, the manager was putting Uggla in the spot behind the rookie first baseman, Freddie Freeman. When Freeman got hot, nothing would come of his base hits because he had a desiginated out batting right behind him. Dan became a real ugly rally killer. The manager has begun to place Freeman in the clean-up spot in the lineup, which is as smart as putting Uggla in the two hole. A batter with the kind of rotten stats that Uggla has should, if in the lineup, be batting eight, unless, that is, there is a good hitting pitcher! Then he should be batting last. Freddie should take a page out of Tony LaRussa's book and hit him ninth. Maybe Uggla would pull a 'Hor Hey' and refuse to play. The Braves could then unload the guy without having to pay him the Big Bucks they owe him. Hey, it's worth a shot...
How is it that these over-priced ballplayers have come to feel entitled? I mean, why should someone like Derek Jeter, who only plays a game, be able to afford a mansion that has come to be called 'St. Jetersburg'? Many millions are out of work and it is only getting worse. I sometimes think we would be better off if, like in the movie, Doctor Zhivago, the people would rise up and take over houses like that and move many families into it. How is it that the owners can afford to pay these players so much money? They can afford it because, for a generation, the politicians have gotten into bed with the owners and stuck WE THE PEOPLE with paying for the new stadiums. Read the chapters on George W. Bush and how he came to own the Texas Rangers, and on George Steinbrenner, in the book, Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You with the Bill) by David Cay Johnston. I have read probably far too many books on the business of baseball. I am currently reading: Hot Stove Economics: Understanding Baseball's Second Season by J. C. Bradbury, after having read his first book: The Baseball Economist: The Real Game Exposed. Both are highly recommended. These books, and others, detail just how far in the slimy politicos and owners have stuck it in us. Could it be time for WE, THE PEOPLE, to start sticking back?

The Good, The Bad, and The Uggla

2011-06-29T12:12:00.000-07:00

The cover story in this week's NY Times is, FOR DEREK JETER, ON HIS 37th BIRTHDAY, an excellent article by a good writer, Michael Sokolove. (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/26/magazine/for-derek-jeter-on-his-37th-birthday.html?_r=1&ref=magazine)
Although he writes it in a nice way, basically he writes that Jeter is through and the people who run the Damn Yankees were idiots to pay him so much money for the next three years for so little production. Consider these two paragraphs: "Derek Jeter signed a three-year contract in December that will pay him $17 million a year through the season he turns 39. The talks beforehand were contentious, and Jeter made no secret of the fact that he was angry about how they went and was particularly upset that the Yankees invited him to test the free-agent market to see if some other team would meet his demands. “It was an uncomfortable position that I felt I was in,” he told reporters after the deal was signed. “It was not an enjoyable experience.”

Not enjoyable? Jeter’s rare burst of public candor seemed to betray a sense of entitlement and a worldview formed within a bubble shared by other highly paid athletes and celebrities. Lots of regular people, after all, would happily endure being mildly affronted before getting a guaranteed $51 million."

Speaking of a "sense of entitlement" there is this about another highly paid old Yankee: "In mid-May, Jeter’s close friend Jorge Posada, 39 years old and hitting a paltry .165 at the time, took umbrage at being slotted ninth in the batting order and refused to play one evening, even though he was not injured and the nationally televised game was against the Boston Red Sox. But he felt insulted to be hitting so low in the order. Any fan would know that a guy with that average is lucky to be in the lineup at all. But Jeter came to Posada’s defense when reporters approached him for comment. “I ain’t lying to you,” the Yankee captain said. “If I thought he did something wrong, I would tell him.”

It was a strange statement, and one that Yankees management did not appreciate. Jeter had to participate in a conference call the next morning with the team brass that included one of the owners, the general partner Hal Steinbrenner."

Sokolove compares the Jeter of today to the player in his prime a decade ago and he also compares Jeter to other middle-infielders from the past at the same age. It is not pretty. But then, was Jeter ever all that good? IWhat I mean is that, since he played in what is now considered to be the 'steroids era' he, like everyone else who played during the time of the ragin' roids is suspect. Because he plays in New York, and is known as 'The Captain', Jeter has always been over-rated. Consider this by Sokolove concerning Jeter's fielding skills: "New baseball statistics have proliferated in recent years, yielding a more nuanced view of performance than traditional numbers like batting average, runs batted in and earned-run average do. (The difference between the old and the new statistics is akin to that between an X-ray and an M.R.I. — the new ones give more information, although sometimes more than you want or need.) New fielding statistics that have come into vogue indicate that Jeter has never been as good defensively as many fans presume — that he has fielded a high percentage of his chances cleanly but hasn’t reached as many balls as the best players at his position. With age, his “range factor” has declined further from a not-so-impressive starting point; as of mid-June, he was dead last this season in both that category and another, “zone range,” among starting major-league shortstops."
What do the Yankee brain trust think about their 'O Captain, My Captain'? Sokolove writes about the Yankee General Manager: "When we talked late last month, I asked Cashman if it was based more on what Jeter had accomplished or on what the team expected he would produce in the future. “People can look at it and come to their own conclusions,” he said. “The contract got done, with Derek remaining a Yankee, and hopefully we’ll win more world championships with him at shortstop.”

Cashman repeated a comment he had recently made on the radio — that he still considered Jeter in the top half of major-league shortstops. “He’s not the same player he used to be,” Cashman said. “But I think he’s above average at that position, despite his age.”

Yeah, right. The GM is delusional. And I love it, because I HATE THE DAMN YANKEES!!!
To paraphrase Vince Lombardi, "Age makes cowards of us all." The sabermetricians, baseball 'stat-heads', (http://www.sports-reference.com/stathead/) who study these things have proven conclusively that the demarcation line for a baseball player, when it comes to time spent on the disabled list, is between 29 and 30. Years ago it was thought that the prime years were between 28 & 30, but now it is known that prime is between 26 & 28. The ages of 25 & 29 would be right behind, as a general rule. Once a player turns 30 he is on the down hill side of 'prime'. That does not mean that an individula player may not have his best year at, say, 22, or even 32. But when ALL players who have ever played the game are considered, prime is late 20's.
I am, and have been since they moved to my home town in 1966, a fan of the Atlanta Braves. I am incredulous at what I am seeing this year. Consider the new second baseman, Dan Uggla. He was born in the city in which I now reside, Louisville, Kentucky, on March 11, 1980, which makes him 31. The Braves played their 81st game last night, which is half-way through the season. Dan's traditional stats are, to say the least, ugly. While watching the College World Series Monday night, this cam over the scrawl at the bottom of the screen: Uggla .177 AVG .244 OBP Last in MLB.
At the half-way point his traditional stats are: .177/.247/.341, which is pitiful. He has always been a below average fielder and has keep the pace this year, unfortunately. One of the 'new' stats is WAR, which stands for 'Wins Above Replacement'. Read all about it at: http://www.baseball-reference.com/ if you are so inclined. Basically it shows how many wins the player is worth to his team above what a replacement player would be worth. For example, if you have a team full of exactly average players they should go 81-81. If you add a star player worth say, 8 games, then the team should go, theoretically, 89-73. Dan Uggla's WAR this year is -1.0, meaning he will, if he continues to perform at the same rate, cost the Braves 2 games this year. There are 584 players listed by War and Uggla is number 581. (http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL/2011-value-batting.shtml#players_value_batting::13) If the Braves were to bring in a replacement player now, they would be much better off. Why would the Braves continue to player this over-the-hill loser? Because the new manager, Freddie Gonzalez managed him at Florida and wanted to bring him to Atlanta. The General Manager, Frank Wren, signed Uggla to one of those multi-year deals worth multi-millions of dollars. To sit him down, or, better yet, cut him loose, would mean they made a terrible mistake. The LA Dodgers have just filed for bankruptcy and still owe Manny Ramirez multi-millions of dollars. Even worse, they still owe former Brave, Andruw Jones millions and he's playing for the Damn Yankees!
One of the hardest things for any chess player to learn is when to admit a mistake. Far too many times a player will make a poor move and then try to come up with a plan trying to make it work, to his detriment, in lieu of admitting the move was bad and trying to correct it. Would somebody please tell it to Frank & Freddie before it's too late?

What Kind of Game Is China Playing?

2011-06-26T15:28:00.000-07:00

I check the stats of my BaconLOG periodically and was surprised to see an inordinate number of people reading the post, Kissinger on Go and Chinese Strategic Thinking, from January 27, 2011. There also seemed to be much interest from China. Then there appeared an article in the Globe and Mail on June 10, 2011, Weiqi: The game that holds China's key to world domination, by Michael Posner. (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/weiqi-the-game-that-holds-chinas-key-to-world-domination/article2056685/)
Mr Posner writes in the article, "It is no coincidence that China has taken its place on the global stage without a single bullet being fired (except on its own people). Its big-picture approach, as outlined by Henry Kissinger in his new book, On China, has a great deal in common with weiqi, the world's oldest and most sophisticated board game. Even the most complex board game could never replicate the intricacies of geopolitics, but understanding one can provide key insights into the other."
Then I understood the interest was because of the book. When I think of Henry Kissinger, I think of the book by Christopher Hitchens, The Trial of Henry Kissinger, in which Mr Hitchens brought charges against Henry Kissinger as a war criminal. There is even a documentary film, made in 2002, of the same name. I lived through the Nixon/Henry the K era and cannot understand why anyone listens to the man. To put it in terms of the youngsters today, Kissinger is SO yesterday!
The next day, June 11, 2001, Keith Johnson wrote a piece for the Wall Street Journal, What Kind of Game Is China Playing?
(http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304259304576374013537436924.html)
Both articles say China is playing Go, as it's called in the west.
Just today, former Phillippine President Fidel V. Ramos has come out with an interesting article, Deadly Chess Game: Positional Warfare (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304259304576374013537436924.html), in which he writes, "To many Filipinos and senior citizens around the world who are chess aficionados like me, China’s creeping intrusion into the South China Sea is like playing deadly positional warfare in chess that is eventually won by pushing opponents into a condition of “zugzwang” (inability to defend to the point of surrender because of loss of space and movement)."
What kind of game is China playing,Chess or Go? Inquiring minds want to know.

Old Dominion Senior

2011-06-26T09:06:00.000-07:00

There was a three-way tie for first in the 2011 Virginia Senior. From the website of the Chess Federation of the Great State of Virginia (http://www.vachess.org/)
The new Senior Champion for the Commonwealth of Virginia is William Marcelino. With three players tied at 3 ½ tie, the title was won on tiebreaks over Tim Hamilton. Wayne Christensen from South Carolina also finished with 3 ½ points.
A few less people participated, 38, than last year 44, but it was within prediction and everyone seemed to have a good time. The Lincolnia Senior Center site provides a well-lit and quiet environment for some quality chess.

Check it out and you will find sixteen games to replay. While there be sure to click on 'VCF Newsletters' where you will find them going back to 1998!
This was a four round OPEN tournament with a decent time limit of 30/90 followed by G/60. As I have written, I would prefer the first time control to be at move 40, even if that means a time control of 40/90. The Legendary Georgia Ironman agrees with me on this. It just seems that, from experience, most games are decided by move 40. Two games of serious chess is enough, maybe more than enough, for Seniors. This looks like a good tournament. I am sorry to say that I was unaware of it; not that I would've played because I've had problems with my car recently. Although it's running again, I do not think I would have made the trip due to the increase in the cost of petrol.
I see there are 36 players participating in Bill Goichberg's weird 2011 World Open Senior Amateur. I am surprised that many came to play. I say that because it is open to those rated under 2010! That's right, if you are rated 2010, or higher, tuff... As I have written, I am completely opposed to excluding any Senior from any tournament.

Chess Has Been Dismissed

2011-06-20T11:33:00.000-07:00

Vishal Mehta Has posted an essay on Technorati titled: Chess Is Dying? (http://technorati.com/sports/article/chess-is-dying/)

I went to the USCF website and found two players named Vishal Mehta, one of whom is Vishal R. Mehta. One is from MI, and the other from CA. I have no idea if one of them is the writer. He writes,
"Chess is fast approaching a dead end one can say.
But top grandmasters with the help of chess engines..." And there it is, man and machine. What he does not mention is the fact that, with the advent of programs that are stronger than the best human players, chess fans, and everyone else in the world, will always wonder how much is man and how much is machine in the same way fans of major league baseball wonder how much was the man and how much was raging 'roids. Now that top GM's have been caught cheating using the advanced programs, there will always be suspicion.
It is always interesting to read what 'outsiders' think of the Royal game. For example, Ray Kurzweil, an American author, entrepreneur, scientist and futurist, was a guest on the show REAL TIME on HBO last week. Kurzweil mentioned to the host that he had predicted a computer would beat the world chess champion in 1998. The host, Bill Maher asked when the computer actually beat the world chess champion. Kurzweil answered by saying the computer won the world chess championship in 1998. Then he added, "Chess has been dismissed."
First of all, the program did not win the chess championship of the world. Unfortunately, since it did beat the human holding the title of world chess champion, the general public now consider it a fact that the machine became the chess champion of the world. Once something like this gets into the public consciousness, it can never be eradicated. You can thank Gary Kasparov for that fact. Why the man played the machine, especially in such a short match, is beyond my grasp. I hope he was paid well to lose the title...
I do not know how many times I have been replaying a chess game in a coffee shop when someone who knows very little about the game will come up and say something like, "I did not realize people still played chess now that the computer beat that man. What was his name? You know, the world champion."
It has reached the point where people are writing things like, "In 1997, a computer called Deep Blue beat world chess champion Garry Kasparov. Headlines triumphed about the victory of machine over man, as we humans were “conquered”, “vanquished” and, as a result of our defeat, “stunned.” The real question isn’t why we finally were defeated by a chess playing computer, but why it took so long." That was written by Gord Hotchkiss, from: Understanding The Human Part Of The User Experience. (http://searchengineland.com/understanding-the-human-part-of-the-user-experience-82067)Humans are no longer expected to compete with machines.
It is difficult for those involved with the game to acknowledge that chess has been dismissed. Even today you can go to the USCF website and read an article by an International Master, Greg Shahade, where he talks about trying to get chess on ESPN. Chess people are obviously in denial. (http://main.uschess.org/content/view/11247/632) It will never happen! The reason it will never happen is that in the public consciousness the game of chess has been dismissed.

Chessplayers Are Not Always Honest!

2011-06-19T09:05:00.000-07:00

So writes IM Greg Shahade, founder of the US Chess League and the US Chess School, writing on the USCF website, Chess Life Online. (http://main.uschess.org/content/view/11247/632/)
I could not help but think of a former chessplayer named Big Al Hamilton who said, "Everything's rigged." I read a fine book last year, The Fix Is In: The Showbiz Manipulations of the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL and NASCAR by Brian Tuohy, which made me say to myself, "Say it ain't so, Joe."
He writes, "There is widespread and well known cheating that occurs in chess tournaments on a regular basis. I have personally witnessed and heard about dozens of such cases, and they continue to occur regularly, including some of the most prestigious tournaments in the world, such as FIDE World Championship Qualifiers. Trust me when I say that prearrangement of results is extremely commonplace, even at the highest levels of chess."
Greg has blown the lid on a dirty secret that everyone knows, but refuse to acknowledge, at least openly. He writes, "I believe a pure round-robin (every player faces each other player once) is a dreadful format for a serious chess tournament for two major reasons": 1.Chessplayers are not always honest!
Unfortunately, there is no second reason given. It will, presumably, be given in his next article.
The main reason a round-robin is "a dreadful format" is that it is inherently unfair because some of the players will have one more game with the white pieces. For example, not to detract from Hikaru Nakamura's win in Wijk aan Zee this year, but he was fortunate to have one more game with white than some of the other contenders. The only way for a round-robin to be fair would be for each of the opponents to play each other twice, once with white and once with black, making it a double round-robin.
Greg writes, "The predominant format of chess and chess tournaments have stayed approximately the same for the last thirty years, meanwhile everyone except the very top chess players in the nation, is unable to make a living from solely playing chess. You would think that rational people in this situation would say "Things haven't been working out for a while, maybe we should try something different".
I have been saying and writing the very same thing for years and have been pilloried for my efforts. Then again, I am not a titled player...
I have suggested a simple method to alleviate the unfairness, and, hopefully, diminish the cheating. That is to have different points awarded for a win with black as opposed to a win with white. The same for a draw with black versus a draw with white. If more points are awarded for a draw with black than the points given for the draw with white, then there will not be as many 'buddy-buddy' draws. Think of it, six players tied for first place going into the last round. Would you, with the white pieces, offer a draw to your opponent? I certainly would not!

Chess Lifeless

2011-06-16T15:00:00.000-07:00

Being confined to the house recently gave me time to catch up on some chess magazine reading. The Brits at CHESS MONTHLY advertised a special of three of their recent magazines for only ten dollars and I took them up on it. All I can say is, "What a deal!" I have been purchasing them at a local bookstore for full price and even at that rate the magazine is "cheap at twice the price." By the time Borders gets them they are a few months out of date, but still worth the price. Wish I could say the same for the USCF magazine, CHESS LIFE. I usually thumb through it, and only go back and read an article if I read a comment about it in a future issue. I read an article about Ray Robson because I read a letter concerning the article on him. I see that NM Rusty Potter, in a letter in the current issue (June), heaps praise on the coverage of the passing of GM Larry Evans in the March issue. I know it's around somewhere, but I've yet to lay my hands on it. Hopefully, it will turn up... The thing is that by the time I read the best chess magazine on the planet, New in Chess, and Chess Monthly, I do not spend time reading Chess Life. Why should I spend time with a third-rate magazine when I can spend my time with much superior magazines?
I gave the June issue of Chess Life some scrutiny and what I found can only be described as pitiful. WHERE'S THE CHESS? There are seventy two pages and only eleven full chess games! Granted, there are many snippets, but I loath and detest those truncated games! I want to know how we got to the position on the board. I realize some editors prefer snippets in order to save space for other things. In this issue that would be young people acting goofy. There are far too many full, or almost full, pages of zany pictures. If you count the two pages on the new chess movie, which is mostly pictures, and the two pages of the winners of the North American Open, which could be much smaller in order to provide room for actual chess games, there are more pages of pictures than full chess games! Chess Life has turned into the 'picture chess magazine'...
Then there are the two pages of statements by the four people running for the THREE positions on the board. It seems like there are four pages in issue after issue. How many people voted last time? And how many fewer will vote this time now that a potential voter had to go to the trouble to register? What a waste of space. It is a good thing more people do not run for office. Imagine if twenty people were running...
I am old enough to remember when Chess Life was a great magazine. I also recall when it was a good chess magazine. I have lived long enough to have seen it devolve into a shadow of what it used to be. The sad truth is that it has become an embarrassment.

Instant Karma

2011-06-15T08:17:00.000-07:00

Man collapses, dies, while raping woman...

http://www.wfaa.com/news/texas-news/Man-dies-while-raping-elderly-South-Texas-woman-123777409.html

John Lennon - Instant Karma

Instant Karma's gonna get you,
Gonna knock you right on the head,
You better get yourself together,
Pretty soon you're gonna be dead,
What in the world you thinking of,
Laughing in the face of love,
What on earth you tryin' to do,
It's up to you, yeah you.

Instant Karma's gonna get you,
Gonna look you right in the face,
Better get yourself together darlin',
Join the human race,
How in the world you gonna see,
Laughin' at fools like me,
Who on earth d'you think you are,
A super star,
Well, right you are.

Well we all shine on,
Like the moon and the stars and the sun,
Well we all shine on,
Ev'ryone come on.

Instant Karma's gonna get you,
Gonna knock you off your feet,
Better recognize your brothers,
Ev'ryone you meet,
Why in the world are we here,
Surely not to live in pain and fear,
Why on earth are you there,
When you're ev'rywhere,
Come and get your share.

Well we all shine on,
Like the moon and the stars and the sun,
Yeah we all shine on,
Come on and on and on on on,
Yeah yeah, alright, uh huh, ah-.

Well we all shine on,
Like the moon and the stars and the sun,
Yeah we all shine on,
On and on and on on and on.

Well we all shine on,
Like the moon and the stars and the sun.
Well we all shine on,
Like the moon and the stars and the sun.
Well we all shine on,
Like the moon and the stars and the sun.
Yeah we all shine on,
Like the moon and the stars and the sun.

The World Champion of Tournament Chess

2011-06-13T15:19:00.000-07:00

Anatoly Karpov turned 60 during the time my 'puter, and I, was down. I reached the age of 60 last summer, so Karpov is the World Champion nearest my age group. I met Karpov, along with former World Champion Tigran Petrosian, and GM Paul Keres, in San Antonio in 1972. They were playing in the Church's Fried Chicken, Inc. First International Tournament. I had traveled there with Branko Vujakovic, a chess master exchange student from Yugoslavia. We played in the weekend tournament sponsored by Church's. Bobby Fischer flew in for the last round, which was held-up waiting for him to arrive. He had just won the World Championship. I had only been playing chess for a couple of years and there I was in company of one former World Champion, the new World Champion, and, as it turned out, the next one as well!
There was a restaurant named the Golden Egg across the street from the Hemisphere, where the players stayed and played. It was basically a glorified Waffle House. The Soviet players ate every meal there, unlike the western players, who dined at much more expensive restaurants, because they could use the per diem to purchase things to take back with them.
Branko was a very strong player, the first really strong player to play in Georgia. He cleaned up while there. I recall Branko playing speed chess with NM John Dunning, who was living in San Antonio. I remember one game Branko had two bishops for two rooks and won. An argument ensued as to whether Branko had sacked the exchange twice, or lost, the rooks! John was a strong player too. He drew with black vs Walter Browne, Mr 6-Time, in a tournament in Houston called the Space City Open after the conclusion of the Church's tournament.
Some time later a book was published by RHM press by IM David Levy, Karpov's Collected Games. I found that Branko had played Karpov in a junior match between Russia and Yougoslavia. Karpov had won the first three games and given Branko a draw in the final game although he had a winning position. How was that possible, I thought. It was difficult for me to understand how another player could beat Branko as easily as he beat me.
The field at Linares 1994 was one of the strongest ever, and Kasparov prior to the event commented that the winner could call himself "world champion of tournament chess". It must have rankled Gary when Karpov smashed the world elite with an amazing score of 11/13 (+9 =4 -0) and a record performance rating of 2985, after having won his first 6 games and leaving Kasparov and Shirov 2.5 points behind. This was arguably the greatest achievement in the history of tournament chess.
When I first began to play chess my neighbor, Larry Jones, would push his pawns in the shape of a picket fence. He could not understand why I would win every game by taking advantage of the holes in his position. For that reason I never cared for the Sonewall variation of the Dutch. But when I purchased a book written by Tim Harding, The Leningrad Dutch, and played over this game, I fell in love with the variation. I have a copy of the book now, although not the same copy. It is written in English descriptive, so I played over the game again to transcribe it and was just as astounded as I was in the mid seventies when the book was published.
Karpov-Jacobsen, USSR vs Scandinavia junior match, 1968
1 d4 f5 2 g3 g6 3 Bg2 Bg7 4 Nf3 Nf6 5 0-0 0-0 6 c4 d6 7 Nc3 Nc6 8 d5 Ne5 9 Ne5 de5 10 ef f4 11 b3 g5 12 f3 Qd6 13 g4 h5 14 h3 hg4 15 fg4 Bg7 16 a4 Qb6+ 17 Kh2 Kf7 18 Bf3 Rh8 19 Kg2 Rh4 20 a5 Qc5 21 Ba3 Qe3 22 Qe1 Bg4 23 hg4 Ng4 24 Rh1 Rh1 25 Qe3 Ne3+ 26 Kh1 g4 27 Be2 f3 28 Bc5 Bh6 29 Re1 b6 30 Bf3 bc5 31 Bd1 Kg6 32 Nb5 Bf4 33 Re3 Be3 34 Nc7 Rh8+ 35 Kg2 Rh4 36 a6 Bf4 37 Kg1 g3 38 Bf3 Rh2 39 Bg2 Kf7 40 Kf1 Rh6 41 Ke2 Rb6 0-1

Where Everybody is a Winner

2011-06-13T08:32:00.000-07:00

In the under 1400 tournament played in conjunction with the recently concluded National Open each and every player in the section, all 14 of them, won money. I've never seen that before at any 'national' tournament. Four players tied for first place. Three of them won $1,200, while the other won only $800. Now, that's a story waiting to be told!
Check it out at: http://www.vegaschessfestival.com/results/2011/?section=U1400

The Oldest Chess Club in the United States

2011-06-11T14:47:00.000-07:00

I would like to bring to your attention a wonderful article that appeared today on the webpage of 7X7SF about the Mechanic's Institute chess club in San Francisco. There is a picture of the club which brought back memories of the times I have been fortunate enough to play or visit. There is also a nice picture of one of the true gentlemen of chess, IM John Donaldson. Check it out at: http://www.7x7.com/arts-culture/inside-oldest-chess-club-united-states-post-street

International Senior Stockholm

2011-06-10T15:03:00.001-07:00

The International Senior Tournament In Stockholm/Täby June 1 to 6 2011th took place while I was having problems. GM Juan Bellon won the event with 6 points from seven games, 1/2 point ahead of GM Victor Kupreichik, WIM Tatyana Fomina; and untitled Russian Boris Goberman. Just like the Senior PGA golf tour, sometimes late blooming players come on strong during their Senior years, while even the very best players while young find the going tough in their decling years.
The first round began at 16:30 on June 1. The next day round two was at 11:00, with the third round again at 16:30. This was the only day with two games scheduled for the same day. The round time for the last four days was 11:00. I can only hope the organizers of Senior events in the US will pay attention.
There were a total of 62 players for the event. If that many players show for the upcoming US Senior, the USCF pooh-bahs will no doubt be jumping for joy, while heartily partying down!
Check it out at: http://scandinavian-chess-tournament.se/meny/lottning-resultat?lang=en

Together Through Life

2011-06-10T09:02:00.000-07:00

I sat down to write another post in my blog, but read the comment left to my post on Bobology. My first thought was to answer, "Because the answer is blowing in the wind," but thought better of it... While listening to my favorite radion program on the 'puter, Music From the Hearts of Space, which is free on Sunday (www.hos.com), I sat back and began to reflect on the question. After some cogitation, I decided to answer it as best I can, so here goes...
I thought of my mother and had to ask myself, "Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son?" Dylan because from an early age I questioned anything and everything. I can recall being in the car with my father and his mother, asking, "Why?" It seemed to upset my father, who responded, "Don't argue with me!" His mother said, "He just wants to know, son. How else is he going to learn?" My father was one of those 'accepting' kinda guys. You know the type; a Southern Baptist who accepted things 'on faith'. According to him, when your country calls, you do not question, you go! The thing was, the older boy who lived across the street went, and never came back...The older boy who became the battalion commander over not just my school's ROTC, but two others as well, dreamed of joining the Army to become another General Patton, so he joined the Army. He was not drafted, he volunteered. He came back on leave, telling us to do whatever we had to do to stay out of the service because, "It's the most fucked-up situation I've ever seen!" He went back and was shot between the eyes walking point on some meaningless mission. His name is on the Viet Nam wall.
To understand 'Why Bob?' one would have to know something about the times back then. The so-called 'war' in Viet Nam, which was really just a 'police action' since Congress never declared war, was heating up and Dylan, along with others, were asking what the hell we were doing there. Bob's lyrics told me it was ok to question. These were formative years for my generation and Bob was somewhat older. There was an interesting essay in the NY Times op-ed section recently, May 23, 2011 titled, Forever Young? In Some Ways, Yes, by David Hajdu. I suggest you read this piece for a better understanding: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/24/opinion/24hajdu.html?_r=1

Bob because here was this guy singing songs like 'Masters of War' and 'With God On Our Side'.
I came of age in the deep south. I can still recall seeing a black woman walking down our street and everyone, and I mean neighbors as well, coming to their windows to watch. Everyone hated 'niggers', but no one could explain why; it was just accepted. I listened to songs like 'Only a Pawn in Their Game' and 'The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll' and began to think for myself. Why should I hate a person because of the color of their skin? It made no sense to Dylan and it made no sense to me. Bob Dylan's words affected me and many others of my generation as well because he led the questioning.

Bob because I can still hear the eruption of the crowd at the Omni when he sang the line from the song, "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" about the POTUS. Keep in mind this was during what is now called, 'The Watergate era'. Bob delivered these words with what seemed venom that night: "But even the president of the United States
sometimes must have to stand naked."

I recall being with my friend, the Legendary Georgia Ironman, at a bar named Spondivits after a sports memorabilia show when a song from the first Travelling Wilburys album, one of the all time great recordings, "Tweeter and the Monkey Man" came on the music system. We began to sing along with everybody else in the joint. When it ended, Tim looked over at me, saying, "Bacon, I've never been in a bar before where EVERYBODY started singing a song!" Neither had I...
Another time I was riding along with the Ironman when a DJ had some nasty things to say about Bob because he played a song that was different from the version he had come to expect. This idiot seemed to think Bob should sing the same song the very same way every time he sang it. I was infuriated and began a diatribe against the ignorant DJ about how monotonous it must be for an artist to have to sing the same song the exact same way throughout his entire life and how this chowder-head typified how difficult it had become for true artists to satisfy fans who only wanted to hear what they had heard previously. It culminated with my saying the jerk should play nothing but "Sail Away' by Dobie Gray! When I stopped, Tim said, "Don't hold back, Bacon. Tell me how you really feel!" I've always appreciated the fact that Tim would put up with my impassioned rants.

Then there's this wonderful woman with whom I spent hours listening to 'Blood On The Tracks', a great album by any measure. And the time I must've had one too many because I got up on open mike night, feeling mauldin, and recited the words to 'I Threw It All Away', and received a standing ovation...

The Rainbow Warrior, aka, The Dude, took a look at my cassette collection during a weekend swiss and said, "That's a real impressive Dylan collection you have." I had to point out the fact that I did have a couple of tapes by the greatest rock & roll band of all time, The Band. I learned what a big fan he was of The Band and later gave him the book, This Wheel's on Fire: Levon Helm and the Story of the Band by Levon Helm and Stephen Davis

I like Bob because I've heard that "Beauty is in the imperfections." Unlike other artists who overdub over and over, laying down track after endless track, searching for 'perfection', Bob is known for going into a studio and laying down one track, and one track only. It may be a little rough, but it contains beauty. Dylan may not have the best voice, but there is a beauty to it, if one listens to what he sings, and the way he sings it.
Because Bob Dylan's music has been with me together through life.

Problems

2011-06-09T15:05:00.000-07:00

I have been down with a health problem. Then the 'puter went and when I tried to go to the library to get on the 'puter there, the car conked! I have spent my time reading and watching. At first I kinda missed the internet, but then actually enjoyed NOT spending time on the 'puter. Yesterday I watched two movies that I had not seen by one my favorite actors. 'The Two Mrs. Carrolls' with Humphrey Bogart and my mother's favorite actress, Barbara Stanwyck. Then came 'Conflict' with Alexis Smith, who was also in the former movie. They were on TCM and I noticed that Alexis was in another movie later with another of my favorite actors, Paul Newman. Ok, if I had to chose, I would hafta go with Humphrey because he played chess! I read a biography of him once and was disappointed in how little mention his chess playing was given. I read 'Duchamp: A Biography' by Calvin Tomkins in order to better understand why Duchamp turned his attention to the Royal game, finding chess given little mention. I recently purchased 'Marcel Duchamp: The Art of Chess' by Francis M. Naumann, Bradley Bailey and Jennifer Shahade from my friends at the St Louis Chess Club and have begun to read it this week.
Last night I had a choice of watching the Red Sox play the Damn Yankees, or the NHL finals. The baseball game is between American League teams and therefore use the Dreaded Hitter, so I decided against watching. As I contemplated watching the hockey game, I recalled what the sage Rodney Dangerfield said about the time he went to a fight and a hockey game broke out, so I flipped back to TCM and watched a wonderful documentary on Dave Brubeck, followed by the movie Thelonious Monk: 'Straight, No Chaser'. With films like this, who needs the internet?

Bobology

2011-05-28T14:58:00.000-07:00

It was difficult to believe Bob Dylan turned seventy this week. It seems like just yesterday I was in High School and stopping by Richard's house on the way home to listen to the music of the man who has been called, The poet laureate of our generation by a plethora of writers. Examples abound: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/03/14/956247/-Indigo-Kalliope:-Poems-from-The-LeftBob-Dylan:-The-Poet-Laureate-of-Rock-and-Roll-
or, http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2011/05/bob-dylan-70-birthday-songs.html?cid=6a00d8341c630a53ef01538eaf276a970b
are only the latest.
When Bob first appeared on my radar, our gereration was heavily into the Motown sound. Richard invited some of our school mates over to listen. Whitlock made faces as if wincing in pain, while Bones said, "He sounds like a wounded dog!" As an indication of their musical accumen, these two later said Jimi Hendrix sounded like "noise."
For some reason Bob's voice resonated with me. Maybe the words have a great deal to do with it, but I have always found his voice pleasing. There have been others who have not. For example, President Bill Clinton, while presenting Dylan with a Kennedy Center Honor in the East Room of the White House said, "He probably had more impact on people of my generation than any other creative artist. His voice and lyrics haven't always been easy on the ear, but throughout his career Bob Dylan has never aimed to please. He's disturbed the peace and discomforted the powerful." It REALLY galled me that Clinton would say the part about Bob's voice not being easy on the ear. At the time I first heard it I thought it showed that although you could take Bill outta the hills, you could not take the hillbilly outta Willie! I never cared much for Billy boy after that...I mean, what kinda insensitive jerk would say such a thing while awarding The poet laureate of our generation a medal? To me it showed the man had a character flaw as big as the Grand Canyon! Listen to Bob's voice on the Nashville Skyline album and you will hear how outta line was Will Billy!
I cannot remember how many times I've seen Bob Dylan in concert. The last time was a few years back in a minor league stadium in the city of Greenville, located in the Great state of South Carolina. I was once paid by the Mad Dog of Southern chess to drive him to Bristol, in the Great state of Tennessee to see a concert. The Dog had met all these other Bob fans online. Unfortunately, I had a bad cold and was under the weather all of the trip. It is still one of the best memories I have, seeing another side of the Mad Dog, and getting a chance to see The poet laureate of my generation for free! We rolled up to the concert to what turned out to be a high school with two turrets on each side that looked just like Rooks!
The best, or, I should say, my most favorite of all, were the two nights I saw Bob Dylan and The Band at the Omni in Atlanta. The second night I sat up front on the same row as the Carters. The Carters being Governor, and later President of the US, Jimmy, and his son Jack, who played tournament chess. Many do not know of Bob's love of the Royal game.
When I first noticed a new Bob DVD, Bob Dylan Revealed, I ordered it immediately because Bob is on the cover looking down at a chessboard! Upon watching, I found that between chapters there is a picture of a chessboard, with chess pieces coming at you, which is really nice. I dig the chess motif.
I also ordered, Dylan, Bob - The Never Ending Narrative 1990 - 2006, but have not had time to watch it, but will this holiday weekend. If I were forever young, I would have considered traveling to Newport, Kentucky for a Dylan Fest at the Southgate House. I read in the local paper, the Courier-Journal that it will "star a ton of bands from the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky areas getting deep into Dylan's catalog." But it would mean an outta town trip, a night in a hotel room, and staying up way past my bedtime. Sometimes it hurts being older than that now...I will hafta console myself with a glass of Merlot while reading a new book on Bob I just received this week, "Bob Dylan: Like a Complete Unknown" by David Yaffe. Like many other fans of Bob, I have spent many hours reading about him as a way of trying to understand The poet laureate of our generation. I have long since given up trying to recall exactly how many books I've read working on my BhD in Bobology! To mention a few one should read to begin working on a BhD: "Bob Dylan and Philosophy" by Peter Vernezze and Carl Porter; "The Cambridge Companion to Bob Dylan" (Cambridge Companions to American Studies) by Kevin J. H. Dettmar; "Song and Dance Man II: The Art of Bob Dylan" by Michael Gray. If anyone questions why Bob Dylan should be called a poet, I suggest he read these books: "Like a Complete Unknown: The Poetry of Bob Dylan's Songs, 1961-1969" by John Hinchey; and "Dylan's Visions of Sin" by Christopher B. Ricks. Concerning this book, this is: From Publishers Weekly
"Ricks, a professor of humanities at Boston University, allows his own musings about Bob Dylan to go "blowin' in the wind" in this love letter to the enigmatic bard. Focusing on the centrality of the seven deadly sins (pride, anger, lust, envy, sloth, greed, covetousness), the four virtues (justice, temperance, fortitude, prudence) and the three graces (faith, hope, love) in Dylan's writings, Ricks confirms Dylan's poetic genius and elevates the poet of the north country to canonical status alongside Tennyson, Shakespeare and Milton."
My cousin Linda was a High School English teacher and one of her passions was Elvis Presley. Everyone knows what Elvis was to Rock & Roll, but to understand what Elvis meant to Southern folk one must be from the South. Cousin Linda, ten years my elder, came of age in the 1950's, and she simply could not understand what I saw in Bob Dylan until I told her what The Boss, Bruce Springsteen described the moment he first heard Dylan's song, "Like A Rolling Stone", the greatest Rock & Roll song ever recorded according to not only me, but many others, such as ROLLING STONE and UNCUT magazines, during his speech inducting Dylan into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, "The way that Elvis freed your body, Dylan freed your mind."
Many years ago while I was out of town, a friend of mine took all my albums with him when he moved back to Chicago with his new wife. We stayed in contact and, when told he was coming back for a visit with his wife's family, I told him he had better not return without a very special album. I want you to picture me and my girlfriend, Gail, the love of my life, leaving a party for one of her childhood friends to go to the Atlanta airport and meet George and his wife, Judy. As they disembarked from the plane, the first thing I said was, "You got my album?" Fortunately, grinning ear to ear, he produced the double album, BEFORE THE FLOOD! Then he said, "Good to see you, too, Bacon..."

Texas Gulf Shrimp CHEAP!

2011-05-27T15:10:00.000-07:00

An early morning riser today with seven stops to make getting ready for the holiday weekend. The second stop was J. Gumbo's for a breakfast of Eggs Pontchartrain, a hearty meal based on shrimp etouffee over an English muffin topped with poached eggs. As if that weren't enough, home fries fill the plate. Just the kinda breakfast for an unseasonably cold May day! Only there were no shrimp; other meat had taken the place of shrimp. The chef informed me that the last time they had shrimp from the gulf it "smelled like oil." No wonder I saw a sign at a local grocery store, 'Texas Gulf Shrimp CHEAP!"
The thing about being an early morning riser (think Pure Prairie League-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Kb7wZokLHQ), is that I no longer stay up late enough to listen to my favorite radio program, Coast to Coast AM (http://www.coasttocoastam.com/). Last night Linda Moulton Howe was the guest. She has an award winning website, http://www.earthfiles.com/. Check out the report, Gulf Fishermen Finding Sick Fish, Few Crabs and Shrimp, at: http://www.earthfiles.com/news.php?ID=1854&category=Environment. Be sure to also read what the government controlled propaganda infotainment channels do not want you to know, Where is Plutonium-MOX Nuclear Reactor Fuel
Ejected from Fukushima Unit 3? at: http://www.earthfiles.com/news.php?ID=1855&category=Environment
Where is Rachel Carson when we need her? Today is her birthday. This is from one of the websites I surf every day, Garrison Keillor's THE WRITER'S ALMANAC. (http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/)
"Her 1962 book Silent Spring, first serialized in The New Yorker, brought her a lot of attention, both positive and negative. Its subject was environmental pollution and its effects on plants and animals, and she particularly spoke out against indiscriminate pesticide abuse. She got the expected support from environmental and conservation groups, but the chemical companies, supported by the Agriculture Department, threatened her with lawsuits before the book was even published. They tried smear tactics, calling her a "hysterical woman" who was unqualified to write about the subject. Eventually, though, the book led to the banning of DDT, the beginning of a grassroots environmental movement, and the formation of the Environmental Protection Agency. She still has her critics, though; the conservative magazine Human Events gave Silent Spring an honorable mention on their list of "Ten Most Harmful Books of the 19th and 20th Centuries" and she has been blamed for millions of malaria deaths worldwide, even though she herself never advocated a wholesale ban on DDT. She died of breast and liver cancer in the spring of 1964."
I am afraid to report that we humans have so polluted our planet that we are doomed. DOOMED!

2011 Tennessee Senior Open Chess Tournament

2011-05-25T10:42:00.000-07:00

The results are in for the 2011 Senior in the great state of Tennessee. Unfortunately only 23 players entered, only 3 of whom were from out of state. Although the crosstable on the USCF website (http://main.uschess.org/component/option,com_wrapper/Itemid,181/) makes no distinction when a game is played at less than the main time limit, it appears the 2-day truncated game option did not have the desired effect. A look back at the tournament years from now will show that the time limit was: Time Control: GAME/120. Maybe no one came for the 2-day schedule? Enquiring minds want to know...
The first year the tournament was held at this location, 2009, there were 35 players, 9 from out of state. I was one of those from another state and wrote about the tournament in a BaconLOG entry of Monday, June 1, 2009, the Tennessee Senior Open.
Last year 29 players came to Crossville for the tournament, 4 of whom were from a state other than the great state of Tennessee. Obviously, the tournament has been on a downward track, I'm sad to report. I chose not to attend this year and gave my reasons why in a BaconLOG entry on Friday, March 25 in an entry titled, Tennessee Senior.
Can anyone leave a comment on how many players came for the truncated 2-day schedule? Any ideas on why the turnout has dwindled every year? Please do not tell me that the price of petrol is the cause because the gas does not cost any more than it did in 2009. It is the fact that the value of the dollar has been eroded to a great extent because the F.I.P. have pumped TRILLIONS of dollars into the system, causing the few dollars you do have to become worth less, on the way to worthless...If you do not believe me, then please take the time to listen to this before firing off that salvo about how the Fools In Power "saved the system from colapse."
http://www.stansberryresearch.com/pro/1103PSIEOAVD/OPSIM526/PR

Kasparov on Kasparov

2011-05-22T12:50:00.000-07:00

Gary Kasparov has a new book coming out in September, Garry Kasparov on Garry Kasparov, Part 1: 1973-1985. Upon learning this I could not help but think of what GM Nigel Short wrote in the best chess magazine to ever grace our planet, New in Chess, 2011/1. "Times were clearly a-changing, but nevertheless it came as a shock to me when, in Sarajevo, a few years later, while admiring the excellent library at the home of the German Ambassador, Garry Kimovich mentioned to me, sotto voce, that he didn't really read chess books anymore. What would the patriarch of Soviet chess, Mikhail Botvinnik, have said about that, eh? Ironically, Garry is now author of the splendid unread series of our time-'My Great Predecessors'. Almost everyone has them, of course,-probably even the Anish Giri generation-as if the pocession of these magnificent works by an undisputed genius suffices by itself to raise one's Elo. But, as I have often found when mentioning some classic game and being met by a blank stare that not too many people have taken the trouble to examine the contents. Garry's analysis is far too intimidating and requires one not only take out a board and set but to painstakingly grapple with labyrinthine variations. No-it is far easier to plonk them on the shelf and admire the hard covers in their nice, red dust-jackets..."
The thing about Kasparov's books is that one does not know what is from Garry and what is from his Vulcan mind-meld with the computer. Nigel writes about this, "With his customary vision Garry Kasparov was one of the first of the old school to fully embrace the new technology."
When one reads a book like Bobby Fischer's My 60 Memorable Games, he knows the analysis is from the greatest chess player who ever lived. Because players actually read Bobby's book he was able to succeed where Kasparov has failed. GM Andy Soltis wrote in Chess Life that a book like Zurich International Chess Tournament, 1953 by David Bronstein could not be published today because it lacks exactly what Kasparov's books have in abundance, reams of analysis. What it does have is WORDS to illustrate IDEAS, which is EXACTLY what a student of the Royal game needs. It is, therefore, a better book than all of Kasparov's books combined.

Gary Kasparov: Nowhere Man

2011-05-11T12:03:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed the commentary from former players Maurice Ashley and Jennifer Shahade during the recent US Championship. I did not, though, care for the format. I see nothing wrong with a six or eight player double round robin, which would take about the same amount of time.
The most interesting comment came from former chessplayer Gary Kasparov. What I heard was simply unbelievable, even for Kasparov. He stuck his foot in his mouth so far it wound-up coming out of his ass! During banter with Mr Ashley concerning the St Louis Chess Club and Scholastic Center he said, "It's now definitely the capitol of US chess. It's much better than being somewhere in the middle of nowhere Tennessee." You simply have to hear what comes next. Please go to http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=7178 to hear the response from the crowd. To his credit, Mr Ashley responded with a "Whoa, whoa...Boy, taking a knock at the folks in Tennessee." Kasparov then inserts his other foot in his mouth as far as it will go by saying, "No, no, no...I'm talking about the place where US Federation had to move from New York."
I did not hear it in real time, so the first time I heard it was on the Chessbase site. I could, therefore, listen to it again, and did, for I could not believe what I had heard. Kasparov is talking about the wonderful city of Crossville, in the great state of Tennessee. I have been there many times previously and can tell you that it is a wonderful place with some of the most genteel, friendly and amicable people one can encounter anywhere.
Although I am not from the great state of Tennessee, I am from a neighboring state of the South, the great state of Georgia. The good people of Tennessee are like my family. That's what it means to be a Southern american. I take umbrage at what this insensitive cretin has said about the good people of Crossville. If I feel this way, I cannot imagine how the people of Crossville muct feel. At the very least the cretin Kasparov owes the people of Crossville an apology.
Upon reflection I had to consider the source. Consider this from Mark Weeks excellent blog, Chess for All Ages (http://chessforallages.blogspot.com/) in his entry of 03 May 2011, titled, Me, Myself, and I: On vacations I always take along two books to read: one chess book and one non-chess book. For my most recent vacation, I selected Kasparov's 'How Life Imitates Chess'. Whether or not you've read the book, here's a pop quiz for you. The book is about (select one):-

a) Kasparov
b) Life
c) Chess
d) All of the above
Before I read the book, and based on a few reviews around the time it was published, I would have guessed (b), it's about life. Going by the author & title, many people would choose (d), it's about all of the above. In fact, the correct answer is (a), it's about Kasparov, i.e. Kasparov's favorite word is 'I', with 'me', 'my', and 'mine' as runners-up.

One also has to consider the fact that the man has no integrity. He showed his lack of it when he cheated GM Judith Polgar. He released his hand from a piece then, upon realizing it was a losing move, quickly replaced his grip and made another move. The film clearly showed his fingers away from the piece. EVERY chessplayer knows when he has released his grip. Kasparov had a choice to make and he decided that cheating would be better than losing to Judith Polgar. Contrast that with the reaction of World Champion Bobby Fischer when he was absently mindedly fingering his rook pawn, thinking it was a pawn that had already been taken. He moved the rook pawn, causing him to lose the game! He may have lost the game, but he retained his integrity. His opponent said after the game that he would not have called Bobby on it if he had not moved the rook pawn because he realized what Bobby was doing with the pawn. For some unknown reason people continue to speculate about who was the stronger player, Bobby Fischer or Gary Kasparov. It is obvious who was the better person. As far as the stronger player is concerned, the only way to judge a player is by where they stood in relation to his peers. Contrast Kasparov's record againt Anatoly Karpov with Bobby's record leading up to the world championship match with World Champion Boris Spassky, and with the result of that match and anyone would have to conclude that Kasparov is lacking. If he was better than Karpov, it was not by much.
The only thing Kasparov will be remembered for is losing to a computer program and making an ass out of himself when he did. As far as I, and many others, am concerned, Kasparov took a dive when he lost to the computer program.
In the final analysis, no matter where Gary Kasparov goes he will always be nowhere, man.

"Abby, you ignorant slut!"

2011-05-09T14:35:00.000-07:00

The title is a reference to one of the most (in)famous skits on Saturday Night Live. In a parody of Point-Counterpoint, Dan Aykroyd turned to Jane Curtain after she had made her point and said, "Jane, you ignorrant slut!" It is one of the most memorable lines from a time when the show was in it's prime.
The Abby from above is Abby Marshall, a young woman of meager chess abilities, who writes a column, The Openings Explained, for the Chess Cafe (www.chesscafe.com). I do not mean to imply that Abby has been, as was stated so eloquently by one of the Road Warriors many years ago when talking about a young lady on the chess circuit, "Passed around like yesterday's newspaper." She is far too young for that to have happened, yet...Her column of May 4, 2011 is, "A good system for White against the French Defense."
Denis Monokroussos writes The Chess Mind blog (www.thechessmind.net). His post of Thursday, May 5, 2011 is titled, "Refuting the 4.Bf4 Variation of the Exchange French" (http://www.thechessmind.net/blog/?currentPage=2), which says it all. He writes, "Still, I was in a contrarian mood this morning, and so after five-ten minutes of rigorous analysis at the breakfast table this morning, I refuted the aforementioned attacking plan:.."
We know someone reads Abby's column. How about you?

2011 US Senior Insanity

2011-05-05T11:46:00.000-07:00

I greatly appreciate the nice tone of the comment left on my last post. I have had others, in other forums and private messages, say something similiar in a belligerent way. I am glad you think it would be a success. I can only wish those that do organize would listen to you and me!
I am not, and do not wish to be, an organizer. I have been around chess for many decades and know what organizing entails. To be good at something, one first has to have the desire. I am lacking the desire to run a tournament. I would much prefer to play. I do have a great deal of admiration and respect for those that do organize chess tournaments; or, for that matter, any tournament, whether it be Backgammon, Go, Scrabble, Poker, etc.
Let me tell you a story...I was in the director's room, talking with the organizer, a real Southern gentleman, at a Southern chess tournament when a rather high-strung player entered the room with steam coming out of his nostrils. He had taken the time and gone to the trouble to check the numbers and had come to the conclusion that the organizer was "cheating" the players. The organizer had been running this particular tournament for two decades, and is, to quote from one of my favorite movies, CASABLANCA, as honest as the day is long. The organizer tried to placate the nervous player, obviously wound way too tightly, to no avail. The player EXPLOADED, throwing the papers he had in his hand into the organizers face. He sat there impassively, but with a clenched jaw. I am the one who jumped up, grabbed the player, and 'escourted' him outside. I did not think, I reacted. If I had thought for a moment I would have considered the fact that the player was much younger and much stronger than me, and that he was the only person I ever had to ask to leave the House of Pain. I hope you can better understand why I have absolutely no desire to organize a chess tournament.
Someone left this question on my post of Tuesday, March 1, 2011
2011 US Senior: Anonymous said...
What do you think of the added 3-Day Option (First 3 Rds G/60):10am, 12:30pm, 3pm, Thursday, Merge with Traditional 7pm Thursday?
I was unaware of it until reading the comment. My first thought was what prompted this? I cannot help but wonder if the advance entries have been so few that the organizer felt he had to do something to draw more players. I really do not know, and would ask that if anyone has a clue to please leave a comment.
Upon further reflection, I came to the conclusion that this is INSANE! Actually, a better word would probably be 'absurd' as 'insane' has to do with a person. For example, only an insane person could have come up with this absurd idea!
I have no inside knowledge of who had this ridiculous idea; did the organizer have a brain fart? Or was he forced to add this by the pooh-bahs of US chess?
It is difficult for me to believe that anyone who has ever played chess would ask this of any Senior. A Senior is expected to begin his day at ten am and possibly not end it until one am, FIFTEEN HOURS LATER! This could possibly be life-threatening!
The idiot who has foisted this looney idea upon the Senior chess community is expecting a Senior to play FOUR games in one day! At our age we have trouble getting it up once a day. I'm not sure the pill has been invented for a Senior to get it up enough for three, much less four, games in one day. If a Senior player has a heart attack, or stroke, and decides to later sue the organizer, he would have a ready made defense by claiming to be non compos mentis!
From what I've learned from the many Senior players with whom I've communicated is that what they want is QUALITY, not quantity. It is really quite simple, yet the pooh-bahs of US chess, in their infinite wisdom, continue to do the same thing the same way, and expect a different result. I have heard that is one definition of insanity.

North American Seniors Team Chess Championship

2011-05-04T08:54:00.000-07:00

Sounds great, does it not? Unfortunately, there is no such tournament. There is, however, a European Seniors Team Chess Championship, which has started. From the website: (http://gamesfestival.chessdom.com/european-seniors-team-chess-championship-started)
The European Seniors Team Chess Championship is starting today in Thessaloniki - Olympus region, Greece. A total of 35 teams from 20 countries and 52 titled players participate, and among them many legends of chess.
Just today GM Nigel Davies writes on his excellent website (http://chessimprover.com/2011/05/04/chess-against-alzheimers/)
in a blog post titled, Chess Against Alzheimer’s: As this research has been around for a few years it amazes me is that chess federations around the World are not singing this from the rooftops. The costs of care for those with Alzheimer’s is staggering, an estimated 1% of global GDP which comes in at US 604 billion. So the mind boggles at how much could be saved if more people were to take up chess.

Yet the focus of chess in this country is geared totally toward scholastic chess. Go figure.

Kiss My 'puter

2011-05-04T08:04:00.000-07:00

http://dvice.com/archives/2011/05/japanese-invent-1.php

Chess is a Drug

2011-05-02T15:08:00.000-07:00

Watch the video to understand: http://vimeo.com/23092287
Then check out the cafe at: http://www.cafepi.ca/

The Discman

2011-04-28T10:31:00.000-07:00

GM Kevin Spraggett included chess videos in his entry of Tuesday, April 26, 2011, on his fantistic blog (http://kevinspraggett.blogspot.com/). They are, shall we say, unique. Here are the links:
A Chess Song (maneater) by kathified
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fngiLiuK6I&feature=player_embedded

A Chess Song (take me away)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1pLJ6aoBbk&feature=player_embedded#at=40

HOW TO PLAY CHESS! (the battle)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2CkHLAM_oc&feature=player_embedded#at=21

I mention this because I received an email from my friend, the Discman, a chess National Master, who cashed in at last year's World Series of Poker. I would look forward to Wednesday evenings at the House of Pain because the Discman would come for the 15 minute tournament. Before the House had a computer, the Discman would print out The Week In Chess and bring it for the center, which usually meant me because most of those coming came only to play. Although younger than my generation, the Discman would have fit in nicely at Woodstock with his love of the music from my era. Living in the suburbs of Atlanta requires many hours on the roads of Atlanta filled with jam-packed traffic. What better way to fill the time than with good music? The Discman sent me a file of each and every one of the songs he had years ago and I was astounded. Knowing the Discman is one of the best things about the game of chess, for that is how we met. Though many miles seperate us, and we no longer play tournament chess, the love of music is a bond that has kept us together through the internet.

Yo nocaB,
Are you familiar with the song Spanish Train, from Chris de Burgh’s 1976 album Spanish Train & Other Stories?

Spanish Train

There's a Spanish train that runs between
Guadalquivir and old Saville,
And at dead of night the whistle blows,
and people hear she's running still...

And then they hush their children back to sleep,
Lock the doors, upstairs they creep,
For it is said that the souls of the dead
Fill that train ten thousand deep!!

Well a railwayman lay dying with his people by his side,
His family were crying, knelt in prayer before he died,
But above his bed just a-waiting for the dead,
Was the Devil with a twinkle in his eye,
"Well God's not around and look what I've found,
this one's mine!!"

Just then the Lord himself appeared in a blinding flash of light,
And shouted at the Devil, "Get thee hence to endless night!!"
But the Devil just grinned and said "I may have sinned,
But there's no need to push me around,
I got him first so you can do your worst,
He's going underground!!"

"But I think I'll give you one more chance"
said the Devil with a smile,
"So throw away that stupid lance,
It's really not your style",
"Joker is the name, Poker is the game,
we'll play right here on this bed,
And then we'll bet for the biggest stakes yet,
the souls of the dead!!"

And I said "Look out, Lord, He's going to win,
The sun is down and the night is riding in,
That train is dead on time, many souls are on the line,
Oh Lord, He's going to win!.."

Well the railwayman he cut the cards
And he dealt them each a hand of five,
And for the Lord he was praying hard
Or that train he'd have to drive...
Well the Devil he had three aces and a king,
And the Lord, he was running for a straight,
He had the queen and the knave and nine and ten of spades,
All he needed was the eight...

And then the Lord he called for one more card,
But he drew the diamond eight,
And the Devil said to the son of God,
"I believe you've got it straight,
So deal me one for the time has come
To see who'll be the king of this place,
But as he spoke, from beneath his cloak,
He slipped another ace...

Ten thousand souls was the opening bid,
And it soon went up to fifty-nine,
But the Lord didn't see what the Devil did,
And he said "that suits me fine",
"I'll raise you high to a hundred and five,
And forever put an end to your sins",
But the Devil let out a mighty shout, "My hand wins!!"

And I said "Lord, oh Lord, you let him win,
The sun is down and the night is riding in,
That train is dead on time, many souls are on the line,
Oh Lord, don't let him win..."

Well that Spanish train still runs between,
Guadalquivir and old Saville,
And at dead of night the whistle blows,
And people fear she's running still...
And far away in some recess
The Lord and the Devil are now playing chess,
The Devil still cheats and wins more souls,
And as for the Lord, well, he's just doing his best...

And I said "Lord, oh Lord, you've got to win,
The sun is down and the night is riding in,
That train is still on time, oh my soul is on the line,
Oh Lord, you've got to win..."

I replied, asking:

Discman,

What brought your attention to the song Spanish Train, from Chris de Burgh’s 1976 album Spanish Train & Other Stories?

His reply is classic Discman!

It’s funny that you should ask.
I have acquired a TON of additional songs in the past year or so, basically doubling my total library.
I’m preparing to add another 40 90-minute discs to my listening rotation, which will make it 280 total 90-minute discs. This will be a total of 420 hours – to listen to my rotation would take you 17.5 days straight through.
Anyway, I’m getting the songs together and looking at each artist in my library. When I came to de Burgh I decided that I should add 1 song since he is not represented in the rotation yet, even though I have 6 of his albums (like I said I’m not really a fan of his).
So the obvious decision would be to add Don’t Pay the Ferryman since it was the only song of his that I know. I’m not really in love with that song so I decided to do a little research first, using allmusicguide.com as my reference of course.
AMG gave his 2nd album 4 stars (as many as any of his other albums) and I’m always partial to an artists earlier albums.
I read the review and saw: “The opening "Spanish Train" is a mysterious yarn about a chess match between God and the Devil, where the victor inherits the soul of a dying train engineer. de Burgh's vocal escalation from serene to flamboyant makes this one of his best songs, as does the marvelous twist at the end of the story.”
This sold me on adding this song…

Now you know why he is known as The Discman!

Winning by Drawing

2011-04-26T12:45:00.000-07:00

This is the question posed on the website of the current US Chess Championships (http://www.saintlouischessclub.org/live):

What do you think is the best bid in an Armageddon game to receive black and draw odds vs. white's 45 mins + 5 seconds / move?:
More than 40 minutes
35-40 minutes
30-35 minutes
25-30 minutes
Less than 25 minutes

Please notice the question presupposes that an Armageddon game is de rigueur. Nothing could be further from the truth! The so-called 'Armageddon' game is an abomination! There should never, under any circumstances, be a game whereby a player can win by drawing! I would like to know the name of the person who first had the 'thought' behind this travesty. This 'thinker' should have been hit, immediately, with the full opprobrium of his peers and the weight of an inexorable slide into an immoral society, at the very least. He should have been held to public ridicule, thereby nipping this damnable black rose in the bud, consigning it to oblivion, where it belongs.
How do things like this come into existence without discussion as to whether or not they should exist? We are now suffering because nuclear power was foisted on we, the people, without any discussion whatsoever as to the efficacy of what is now Hell on Earth. It would seem appropriate to call it an 'Armageddon' game when one considers it, would it not?

Unusual Powers

2011-04-24T08:39:00.000-07:00

After arriving early for a chess lesson at a Barnes & Noble, I was perusing the magazine section when the name 'Stefan Zweig' on the cover of what I took to be the New York Review of Books caught my eye. I was mistaken, as it was actually The Jewish Review of Books, Number 4, Winter 2011. (www.jewishreviewofbooks.com/) It turned out to be a review by George Prochnikof the new book: Stefan and Lotte Zweig's South American Letters: New York, Argentina and Brazil, 1940-42, edited by Oliver Marshall and Darien J. Davis. Zweig authored what I, and many others, consider to be the best chess fiction ever written, The Royal Game, a novella first published in 1942, after the author's death by suicide. It is the Austrian master's final achievement, completed in Brazilian exile and sent off to his American publisher only days before his suicide in 1942.
After the lesson ended I sat there thinking about how little I knew of the life of the author who wrote such a magnificient work, so I took the time to read the review. I learned that he wrote many of his best-known works on a desk that once belonged to the greatest composer of all time, Ludvig Von Beethoven. During World War Two his books were banned in Austria and Germany. He travelled to South America giving lectures. From the review, "Ernst Feder, a Berlin-born journalist writing for a Rio daily, claimed that no other writer, native or foreign, enjoyed Zweig's popularity in Brazil...
...there's no question that Zweig was a literary superstar in both Brazil and Argentina. Zweigs short fictions and long historical biographies, flickering with secrets, abrupt intimacies, and intricately filigreed erotic fantasy, struck home on the continent long bdfore his arrival."
He was severely depressed. His term for it was the notorious "black liver." From the review, "As time closes in on the Zweigs, they spend their hours reaing the classics, taking long walks with their fox terrier, stopping off at the nearby Cafe' Elegante for coffee, and playing chess in the evening."
The German invasion of the Soviet Union provoked Zweig to write his friends the Altmanns that the war situation would only "become worse and worse for our mankind," and that "while a younger generation would no doubt live to see better times, I with my 'three lives' feel that my generation has become superfluous."
Zweig's restrained, deeply moving suicide letter reads at times like a love note to Brazil. It begins with the announcemant that "Before parting from life of my own free will and my right mind I am impelled to fulfill a last obligation: to give heartfelt thanks to this wonderful land of Brazil which afforded me and my work such kind and hospitable repose." There has been much speculation about what, finally, snuffed out Zweig's will to live. He killed himself just after watching Rio's Carnival...But why, really, look for answers beyond the reason he gave in his letter?
...he finishes
"After one's sixtieth year unusual powers are needed in order to make another wholly new beginning. Those that I possess have been exhausted by the long years of homeless wandering. So I hold it better to conclude in good time and with erect bearing a life for which intellectual labor was always the purest joy and personal freedom the highest good on earth...I salute all my friends! May it be granted them yet to see the dawn after the long night! I, all too impatient, go on before."
Reading this made me recall some of the last words of one of my favorite authors, the irrepressible Doctor of Gonzo journalism, Hunter S. Thomson. "67. That is 17 years past 50. 17 more than I needed or wanted." For some reason the quote I remembered had Dr Thompson writing 7 years past 60. It is most probably because I turned 60 last year. Like most people who reach the age, I never thought I would still be here among the living. After one's sixtieth year unusual powers are needed, indeed...

You Can't Win If You Fear Losing

2011-04-22T08:59:00.000-07:00

Grandmaster Alexander Onischuk, having the white piesces, drew his game yesterday with Grandmaster elect Samuel Shankland. It was an especially good result for Shankland because there will now be a playoff between these two players for a spot in the finals. GM Maurice Ashley, commenting on the game from the St Louis Chess Club, was incredulous at the draw; the choice of opening by Onischuk; and the fact that Al did not seem to even try and win the game. The previous day Shankland had only drawn with GM Ben Finegold in a position in which he had an extra pawn and what looked to be good winning chances. A win would have put him in a much more favorable position. FM Mike Klein reports on the website (http://www.saintlouischessclub.org/news/2011-04-20/hess-and-krush-ride-winning-streaks-qualification): Their game was one of the few in the tournament to be settled with imbalances everywhere. “I’m really disappointed with my game today,” Shankland said. “Ben sacrificed a pawn for what I thought was insignificant compensation.” Asked why he agreed to the draw, Shankland said there was too much risk in the position. “I’m either going to get mated or run my pawns through. I saw that Alex (Onischuk) had a bad position. But I don’t like losing a White against the lowest player in the competition.”
GM Jan Ludvig Hammer, a GM from Norway visiting the championships said on the webcast that he was against draw offers being allowed. "A draw is offered by a player who is afraid to lose," Hammer said. That about sums up Sam Shankland. A chess player cannot play the game with fear of losing. I will be surprised to see him advance after the tie-break games. If he does somehow make it, I am willing to wager he will not ever become US chess champion.
The poll question on the St Louis Chess Club website today is: What do you think is the best way to discourage short non-fighting draws?
The four possible answers are: 1) Ban the draw offer (A.K.A. Sofia-Corsica rules); 2) No draw offers before move 30 (or another move number); 3) Impose a financial penalty; 4) The full opprobrium of your peers and the weight of an inexorable slide into an immoral society is enough.
Although I loved #4 I voted for #1.
Offered draws are killing chess. I have lost games because I refused to take a draw many times. I recall Patrick Tae, an expert at the time, asking me why I had refused his draw offer in an equal position. "Because I wanted to beat you," I answered. "That's crazy," he said. Even I have not been immune to offering the draw. At the 103rd annual US Open in Cherry Hill, NJ, I offered a draw after time control in a better position to a youngster named Gary Huang, an expert who out-rated me by a couple of hundred points. He looked at me quizzically, got up from the board (I learned later he had gone to ask his coach if he should accept the offer), returning to agree to split the point, to my relief. The fact is that it was late at night and I had no energy whatsoever. If he had continued he would probably have won, no matter the position on the board. I was just about to turn 52 at the time. It was the first time I actually felt old(er) at the board; not wanting to try and win a better, although murky, game. To quote Vince Lombardi, "Fatigue makes cowards of us all." In the case of a young man like Sam Shankland, one could substitute the word "fear" for "fatigue."

We're Talkin' Baseball!

2011-04-21T13:27:00.001-07:00

Just received from ACTA Sports the Stat of the Week: Who are the best defensive teams of 2011 so far? It's free; just go to info@actasports.com.
One of the best things Bill James, the original stat-head, did was shine a light on how important defense is to a winning team. Casey Stengel once said he did not want the player who would drive in two but let in three. The Ol' perfessor knew the importance of defense.
An article, Angst Over Jeter’s Hitting Is Off to a Robust Start, by Ben Shpigel in the New York Times 4/12/11 (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/12/sports/baseball/12yankees.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=ben%20shpigel%20angst%20over%20jeters&st=cse) does not mention Jeter's fielding, but it has been said that he has lost a step. He won a gold glove last year, which was a bad joke. He has always been a below average fielder, and fielding does not improve as a player ages. A baseball player does not usually improve in his late thirties, unless he uses a performance enhancing drug. Shpigel writes, "If his average improves, climbing under a barrage of line drives and settling beyond the .270 that taunted him last season, Jeter will have defied age and historical precedent."
I hate the Yankees. No, strike that, I loath and detest the Damn Yankees! It made me happy when the Yankess signed an aging shortstop to a multi-year contract during the offseason. Now they're stuck with an underperforming has been, having spent money that could have been better used on a younger, better, player.
My point was made by Sean Forman writing in the New York Times 4/15/11 in an article, Struggling Jeter Could Use Some Rest. (http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/14/keeping-score-jeter-may-benefit-from-rest/?scp=1&sq=sean%20forman&st=cse)
This is a fine article using a chart to illustrate what he calls 'The Jeter Slide'. He writes about the few other players who have played the demanding position of SS in the history of MLB in the late 30's. It does not look hopeful for Jeter, which is a great thing for Yankee haters!
The Phillies' Four Aces by Pat Jordan in the NYTimes magazine of 4/3/11 (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/03/magazine/mag-03Phillies-t.html?scp=3&sq=philadelphis%20phillies&st=cse) is an excellent article; a must read. What no one, though, seems to be writing about is how old, in baseball terms, are three of the four '#1 starters' on the staff. Players, especially hurlers, usually encounter difficulties as they near the mid 30's. The odds are against this staff turning out to be one of the best of all time for that reason. Barry Zito, said on the new San Francisco Giants Reality Series The Franchise, "It's still there somewhere. You've just gotta find a way to access it." I hope he can, but when your fastball drops to 84 mph I'm afraid you are not long for the Show. All big legue ballplayers probably think that it's still there, somewhere, after it's gone, never to return.
After reading the article, Vexing Rise in an Injury with Little Explanation, in the New York Times 4/12/11 (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/12/sports/baseball/12injury.html?scp=1&sq=vexing%20rise%20in%20an%20injury%20with%20little%20explanation&st=cse) I thought back to the time the Legendary Georgia Ironman and I went to the batting cages. It was twenty years since I put the bat down, and it showed. Tim put the pitch speed on the 'major league' setting, though it was no where near that caliber. I was swinging and missing, and it embarassed me considerably. It was obvious that I was not seeing the ball well, so I opened my stance dramatically. I could now see the ball much better, learning later that my left eye was much weaker than the right one; not good for a right-handed batter. I began to put wood on the ball, enjoying the sound of solid contact. Evidently others were too, as a crowd gathered around to watch. Reeling with the feeling, I continued to pound away at the ball with visions of my glory days coming back. It was a wonderful evening that I enjoyed immensely.
The next morning upon waking I could hardly breath. Although I tried taking a deep breath, it was too painful to complete. My ribs hurt like all get out! That whole day was torture! I was miserable; hurtin' for certain. Now I know the name of the muscles I strained. It took me a week to fully recover...